Silent Life
by Husky1980
Summary: An AU inspired by the anime "A silent voice". Chloe Price, revisiting 7th grade Arcadia Bay Junior High School, meets the new student, only to discover that they have a history, and not a good one.
1. Smell the Coffee

A/N: Welcome to my first fanfiction. I have already wrote the "prologue" in advance, consisting of six chapter, which were beta-read by **spebonne** , who's critic and tips were invaluable to me. Please, check out his stories, especially " **Life has No Meaning Without You** ".

I plan to release this prologue in a weekly stretch. After that, unfortunately, all bets are off on an update schedule, seeing that the new year will be insanely busy for me. But I will do my best and hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.

Chapter 1 – Smell the coffee

 _'Another shitty day in Arcadia Bay'_

With these thoughts, Chloe Price slowly rose out of bed. Normally she wouldn't think of waking up at such an ungodly hour. But she had to. After all, today was the first day of a new school year. Or rather, new OLD school year. Not that the newly self declared punk showed any emotions about it.

 _'7th Grade... again. Great...'_

This meant not only new people in class, but a lot of questions about her age. Not that she could be bothered. A 14 Year old in this grade is not usual, but nothing about her WAS usual. Her room was a testament to that. A wall full of posters from Punk Rock Bands, Clothes littered the ground. Most childhood memories stuffed away in some drawers in the corner. Only her glass snow doe on the upper drawer and a box with pictures below her bed could be spotted. Next to her bed, the wall still displayed the chart which documented height while growing up.

 _'Only thing missing are the smell and butts of cigarettes to complete the picture.'_

How often was she told that she was wasting her potential...

How often teacher tried to play the "understanding" act. In the end, they still gave her detention or extra homework.

 _'Everyone pretends to care, until they don't.'_

"CHLOE! Wake up, you need breakfast before catching the bus!"

Chloe's thoughts were interrupted by her mother, Joyce. Any other day, she would just turn around in bed and go back to sleep. But she did not want to draw flak that early in the new school year.

She stood up, took one of her "newly" acquired Hoodies (a black one with one of the many bands she listens to, the inscription already faded since it is second hand) , a pair of dark jeans and walked into the bathroom for a quick shower and brush of teeth. Inside the bathroom, she couldn't help but notice how devoid the cupboards looked. Something she still couldn't get used to.

 _'Surprising how much stuff Dad used in the bathroom. And they say that woman use all the space.'_

Any thoughts of her father brought with it a sudden wave of sadness.

 _'All because of a drunk truck driver... And that girl...'_

A quick check in the mirror. Emotionless azure blue eyes, shoulder length strawberry blonde hair. Boring...

 _'Maybe I should cut it even more. And dye it. Blue? Yeah, that would be awesome!'_

Quickly doing her chores, she got dressed and headed downstairs. A plate of waffles already waiting for her. She sat down and started to eat without exchanging any words with her mom, who stood nearby at the kitchen sink. Her mother was already dressed in her waitress uniform. Her dark blonde hair is tied in a bun, she rarely wears it open.

"Excited about the new year?"

"As excited as waiting for a colonoscopy..."

"Chloe..." There it was again, that tone of disappointment. She should have gotten used to it by now. But she doesn't. It's either about her choice of words, her choice of clothing or her choice of skipping school.

Silently, the strawberry blonde girl stood up, grabbed her stuff and walked out without exchanging any other words with her mother. Only a faint "Have fun!" could be heard from the kitchen as the door closed.

She had to take the bus now. Back when her father was still around, he would gladly give her a lift on his way to work. Not an option anymore. And her mother's work was at the other end of town. Not that she would drive her anyway.

The Bus Station was devoid of other students. At least she was left alone. Plugging in her MP-3 Player, she choose some random track of music, sat down on the bench, and waited.

Around her, people were doing their morning routines. A mailman delivering letters, the gardener doing his work. Small children playing around at the kindergarten across the station.

About 5 Minutes later, the bus arrived. Inside were only a few other students, all minding their own business. Not that she had any interest in talking to anyone. Especially in a bus reeking of stale air and body spray.

" _Male body spray... I'm ready to gag!"_

Taking her seat in an empty row of seats, her gaze wandered out of the window. Houses and landscape flew past while she listened to some more music. Before she knew it, they arrived at there destination.

Arcadia Bay Junior High School

Hands in her pockets, Chloe walked towards the entrance. She drew the hood over her head, to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Going inside through the rather large double oak doors she entered the main corridor. The stairs towards the upper floors directly in front of her, she took a right turn down the hall, towards the classroom. All the while trying to ignore her surroundings. The school year has started just yet and a jock was already pinning a younger student against the lockers, probably demanding his lunch money or something. They tried that with her too, once. A swift kick towards the sensitive southern region and a visit at the Principal's office later she never got bothered again. Deciding against intervening to not get too much heat on her first day, she moved on.

Arriving at the class room of her first period, Chloe choose a desk at the window side, about halfway down the room, making sure that no one else sat at the two chair desk. She only briefly looked around the class room, but not noticing anyone she was very familiar with. A few, like Drew, Mickey, Nathan and Victoria she knew the name of, but that is all. She waited silently while the rest of her classmates were slowly trickling in. A few greet her, she just nodded back. Socializing wasn't something she excelled in since the accident.

As the teacher walked in, the noise and commotion settled down. Mrs. Enfield was a familiar sight for Chloe, often hosting the detention classes she had to participate. She was a bit older, in her early fifty's. Blonde hair, shoulder length. And of course black rimmed glasses. Dressed in the stereotypical Teachers Clothes: White blouse, a brown knee-length, plated skirt . The typical teacher look. But she was also fair and nice to everyone who didn't deserve her anger. Even Chloe, ending in detention more then once, was always treated nicely.

"Good Morning, class. I hope you are all excited for the new school year." The teacher asked, a subtle hint of sarcasm in her voice. The silence in the room was enough of an answer.

"Good, good. My Name is Mrs. Enfield, I will be your new teacher. We will have a few periods together, so I think we should get to know each other quite well." She proceeds her introduction while writing down her name on the board. "I want all of you to know that you can approach me with any problem or question you have. This is important to me."

She went on and told a bit about herself. Just a short CV. How she became a teacher because she got inspired by her mother. How she found interested in English Literature as well History. So on and so forth.

The teacher wouldn't talk too long about a topic, probably to not risk boring her students to death. She finished in about 5 minutes.

"Now, before we start roll call, we will have a new student joining the class later. She will introduce herself to you, and you all behave. You will see why, and I expect your best behavior, understood?"

Again, the class remained silent, only a few people nodding or "mhm" as a response.

* * *

During lunch-break, Chloe sat in the cafeteria, choosing a table in the far corner where she wont be disturbed. The cafeteria was unusually empty.

 _'Probably because everyone is either too busy searching their new class rooms or meeting their new classmates. Maybe even too busy with tormenting some of them.'_

"Hey Chloe!" A voice interrupted the punk during her somewhat unappetizing meal. She looked up and saw the auburn haired girl, with her trademark white beanie.

"Hi Steph." She greeted her friend. Steph was one of the few people Chloe would call a friend. Although they didn't hung out every day, she was nice and they do play some DnD now and then.

"Have you heard about the new arrival?" Steph started as she sat down with her tray of whatever they call food here.

 _Great! Gossip! Yay..._

"No."

"Well, I met her this morning. Isn't she joining your class?" Steph inquired while biting down on something barely resembling a sandwich.

"I guess so..."

A smirk developed on Steph's face. "Well, this is gonna be interesting. Tell me how it went."

Without answering, Chloe went back to eating what the kitchen chef had the nerve to call food.

"We plan on doing another DnD evening next week. Are you interested to come?"

Chloe just shrug her shoulder. Enough of an answer for Steph.

"Great! I have a really awesome campaign planned!"

And on she went. Chloe became pretty good at starting to zone out and just nod along the lines of 'I hear you' while her friend talked on and on about a topic. As long as no questions were asked that needed anything but a shrug or nod, she was save.

After a few minutes of her talking on and "eating", the auburn haired girl then looked at her watch. "Oh! Next classes start soon. Got to go. See you later."

 _And gone she is. But what did she mean with 'interesting' when she mentioned the new classmate?_

After finishing her meal, she got up and headed out. Only to be interrupted again.

"Oh, look who is here. Mrs. Roundabout." Victoria Chase's voice called her out. Chloe turned around and spotted the blonde haired girl sitting with a few of her friends, who chuckled at her joke obediently.

"What do you want, Mrs. Snob?" The agitation in Chloe's voice was as clear as the blue arctic sea.

"How thoughtful. Do they hand these returns out at charity?" Again, the group of friends laughed dutifully.

"How about I show you some charity outside?" The punk returned, balling her fists.

"Oh, be careful? You don't want me to go to the Principal and tell her you threatened me? Maybe you get detention?" A devious smile followed. "Or expelled? Everyone knows how much trouble you are. Bad enough that you are in my class now."

"Go ahead, you would actually do me a favor. Won't have to see your sorry face again, **bitch.** " With this, Chloe walked out of the cafeteria, leaving behind a sort of stunned Victoria.

* * *

After the exchange, Chloe went down the corridor towards the next period. Of course, in another class room. At least it was Chemistry, something she was not only good at, but also interested in. The teacher, Mr. Groovers, was a bit younger then most other Teachers and a bit relaxed. He usually wore his white shirt with black jeans and gave some sort of "I don't give a fuck" aura. At least he didn't wore any of those half-assed beards like a goatee or something. But he knew his stuff.

After about 5 minutes of introduction, a knock interrupted Mr. Groovers. Mrs. Enfield walked in, greeted her colleague and then addressed the class.

"Okay, as promised, I want to introduce your new classmate. Please pay attention, this is important."

With this, she signed at the door for someone to come in. Slowly, a small _girl_ , about the height of Chloe's shoulder, walked in. Short, shoulder length brown hair. Wearing a plain, gray hoodie without any inscription and some run of the mill blue jeans. She was clutching a notebook as well as a messenger bag strapped over her shoulder and looked down, probably in embarrassment.

Something about her rubbed Chloe the wrong way. As if they met before.

"Class, this is your new classmate. She will introduce herself shortly. Please keep in mind that she has hearing problems and you are therefore required to write down anything you want to say to her."

A small murmur could be heard next to and behind her. It ranged from thoughtful comments like _"Wow, deaf? Poor girl."_ over _"Wonder how this affects the class?"_ to more vindictive comments like _"Wonder if she gets a disabled parking space later in life?"_ and so on.

At first, there was no reaction from the _girl_. But a nasty comment in the likes of _"Are we a special needs school now? What does she want here?",_ probably spoken by Victoria from the sound of it, did seem to to get a reaction out of her. It was short and quickly over, but one could have sworn she looked hurt.

Again, something stirred in Chloe. This was getting uncomfortable. But she couldn't remember where she might have met the _girl_.

 _Deaf girl in a junior high school class? This is cruel._

With a closer inspections, Chloe noticed her blue eyes and freckles.

 _Talk about being a target. She looks like a lab made nerd._

Chloe couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl already. This will be a difficult time for her.

The brown haired _girl_ stepped forward, wrote something on her notebook, and showed it to class.

 **'Hi, my name is Max Caulfield!'**

Chloe snapped out of her thoughts reading those words.

 _This got to be a joke... This can't be... That girl?!_


	2. Remembering, not forgetting

Chapter 2 – Remembering, not forgetting

Realization hit Chloe hard and fast. One minute she was wondering where she hast met the _girl_ before and the next, her stomach felt like it did a complete flip.

Nauseous, without thinking, she got up and went for the door. The voice of Mrs. Enfield stopped here.

"Chloe? Are you alright? You look like you have seen a ghost."

 _'You have no idea, Mrs. Enfield.'_

"I'm sorry... I feel sick. Can I use the bathroom for a second?"

She had to escape this room. She had to escape... _her_.

"Of course, dear. If you don't feel better soon, just visit the nurse's office."

One last look into the class. The _girl_ watched her with a worried expression. Chloe couldn't help but scowl at her before she turned around and walked outside. At this time, the hall was empty, save for one or two staff members who didn't seem to notice her. It was the first day, but the floor was already partly littered with papers and garbage. The white wall's always displayed trophy's of competitions and sport events. Flags and posters. Not that Chloe ever cared about them.

Down the hall, next to the stairs. The lady's bathroom. Quickly walking inside, Chloe wrinkled her nose at the smell.

 _'Yuk... The smell of public bathrooms.'_

The walls were, obviously, covered in graffiti. You could choose between either the typical, puberty driven teenage sexual slur or insult. Or actual drawings of person, most of them no really flattering. Chloe once caught a girl writing a message directed at her, making fun of her appearance and her dead father. A few bruises, a visit to the principal and two weeks suspension later, the message was cleaned up and the girl never dared to look at Chloe again.

Leaning over the sink, she looked at her own image in the mirror. Her pale face was most notable. Thoughts drifted from her appearance to the classroom.

 _'What the hell? How can this be? How much bad karma did I collect to get stuck in **THIS** situation?'_

A reasonable person would have thought that this was just a coincidence. But right now, Chloe Price was not a reasonable person.

 _'She ruined everything! Just because she could not look left and right before crossing the street? This is such bullshit!"_

The anger came in waves. It slowly build up while Chloe thought about the events that transpired three years ago. Like a blurry film, it played in front of her.

* * *

A family of three walking down a sidewalk. Chloe in-between her parents. They just visited the cinema, watching the new Harry Potter movie. Now they were on their way to eat something. After putting up a valiant fight, her father agreed on the pancake house.

Things happened so fast and for Chloe, it all played out in the corner of her eyes.

A _girl_ , not looking left and right before crossing the street. A truck, seemingly out of control. A man, her father, sprinting towards the _girl_. A blur of events.

Next thing she remembered: The _girl_ lying on the side of the road, seemingly unconscious. Her father was nowhere to be seen. The truck barreled into a building down the road. Luckily for the persons inside the building, it was built rather sturdy. Unlucky for the driver of the truck. He was apparently dead on impact.

Later she found out that the truck driver fell asleep on the wheel after 12 hours of straight driving, just because he really wanted to complete that delivery before the weekend to not miss a football game.

It was an event that was over in 10 seconds. But for Chloe, it changed her life forever.

EMT, Police and fire department arrived. It was still a blur for Chloe.

Two dead, one of them her father. The _girl_ was brought to a hospital. Chloe and Joyce were under shock and brought there, too.

In the hospital, Joyce inquired about the _girl_. She suffered a concussion from hitting the ground with her head. Apparently nothing more serious, even though the Doctors couldn't give out more details.

This made Chloe angry. How could she get away with a minor head injury while her father died? And all of that just because she did not look left and right before crossing the road?

She became so worked up that a Doctor had to give her a mild sedative. A night in the hospital later, she was allowed home.

Not that it felt like a home anymore. It just felt like an empty house.

Closing her bedroom door, curling into bed, she rarely left the room the next couple of weeks, spilling more tears then she thought could be spilled by a human being.

* * *

Catching her ever breath, Chloe tried to calm down. No sense in thrashing the bathroom on her first day. At least she got that much self control left.

A quick splash of water in her face later, the punk tried to decide the best course of action.

 _'Either I go to the nurse and maybe get send home or I get back to class. OR I don't give a fuck and skip school.'_

Skipping school would not be an option after all. Her mother would kill her. Quite possibly for real.

Going home pretending to be more sick then she felt would only delay the problem.

So back to the class it was.

Quietly walking down the corridor again, Chloe took her sweet time getting back. But even the slowest walk would get her there sooner rather then later. Arriving back in class, she quietly opened the door and walked in again, only giving a short nod towards Mr. Groovers. Mrs. Enfield must have left already.

 _'Of course...'_

The _girl_ had not only chosen a place near her. She took the second chair at **her** desk. Reluctantly, Chloe took the seat next to her. Not that she had much choice.

At least, she managed to skip the introduction round. Mrs. Enfield must have been short on time.

 _'Small blessings...'_

While the teacher continued with class, writing down the topic and most important information, Chloe couldn't help but steal a few glances towards her new neighbor. Her first glance was directed towards a strange object attached behind her ear, partially hidden by her hair.

 _'Must be some kind of hearing device? High tech stuff... Wonder how much she can hear with this?...'_

The _girl_ was diligently watching the board, writing down any information she could acquire.

Sometimes, she would sweep away a few strands of hair on her forehead, or her bangs behind her ear.

Shortly after her observation, the punk saw how the _girl_ wrote something on a small piece of paper and slid it towards her.

 **'Are you alright? You looked pale. I'm Max, by the way. I hope we will be friends.'**

The handwriting on the note was small and elegant, and she would actually be impressed if it came from anyone else. Reading it, Chloe felt the rage building up again. Without any further thought, she just shoved the paper back, making sure it looked as brusque as possible. From the corner of her eyes, she could see a surprised and hurt look on her face.

Somehow, this produced another feeling in Chloe's stomach. But it didn't feel like the rage she experienced before.

 _'What was that?'_

After the brief one sided interaction, her neighbor turned her attention back to class. She watched the teacher carefully, as if she could absorb every word he spoke. Almost hanging on his lips, one would say. Her own lips moved ever so slightly, as if repeating the words of the teacher. It all seemed rather strange at first to Chloe, since the _girl_ was deaf. But it didn't take long the punk to understand: The _girl_ was lip reading.

Whenever the teacher had questions, she would raise her hand. Her answers would be given in written format and the teacher would read it out loud. Every time she did this, Chloe could pick out a few hushed voices in class. Most of them commenting in negative ways.

During one such question concerning the elementary table, she gave a wrong answer. The class started to laugh, but was quickly cut off by a glance from Mr. Groovers. Still, one boy in particular did let loose of a sneer: "Deaf and dumb. Nice combo." This again brought some laughter to the class.

Chloe never participated in these kinds of activities. She despised bullying and would call those who did it out in the most brutal way, even in class. She was told this was one of the few things the teacher found impressive about her. Not that she would care.

But this time, she did not intervene. Something stopped her. And deep down, she knew all to well what it was...

* * *

After chemistry, the last period of the day was math. Something Chloe wasn't too bad at, either.

Walking into class as one of the last after the bell has rung, she surveyed the room.

Most desk's were already occupied. She spotted a few at which only one person sat. Most of them were boys, so no chance in hell she would sit down there.

She would also care to avoid empty desks again, not risking the _girl_ sitting down next to her again. She didn't spot her walking in yet, so this was definitely another no go.

At the back of the room, she spotted Dana Ward sitting without a partner.

 _'That is strange? I always thought her and Juliet were inseparable.'_

Making her way over to Dana, she sat down and gave her a nod.

"Hey Dana..."

Dana, dressed in a white shirt displaying "Dreams come true" in pink (' _The cringe wont stop.'_ ) and a pair of generic blue jeans looked up with a bewildered face.

"Chloe? What are you doing here?"

Normally, a person would feel rejected by this. But Chloe knew it wasn't meant in a negative way, but rather in a curious one.

"Well, I thought I would sit back here for today, class will probably be boring enough. Might catch up on some sleep..."

"You are lucky, Juliet went home with the flu. And that on the first day."

Without acknowledging Dana any further, Chloe turned towards the door. The _girl_ scanned the room, looking for a place to sit. Her gaze momentarily stuck at Chloe, who again returned it with a scowl.

Probably intimidated, she sank her head and went for one of the empty desk's in front of them.

Again, a sort of strange feeling disturbed the punk. Quickly putting it aside, she watched the math teacher, Mrs. Hansson, enter. A middle aged lady, her black hair made up in a bun, wearing a black business suit with black leather high-heels clicking on the floor..

 _'Overdressed much?"_

Introduction done in two minutes, it was immediately clear she was a 'No BS' teacher. Before becoming a teacher, she was working at a bank, but after the financial crisis she got laid off and decided on teaching. It was also clear that she would not play favorite with anyone.

 _'Probably because each and everyone annoys her. Got to give her credits for that, though...'_

Starting her lesson, she rattled down the list of topics to be covered the next few weeks, all of this while turned towards the board and scribbling some notes on it. Like a well oiled machine.

Chloe noticed the _girl_ started to become a bit stressed. She probably had trouble following the teacher. Then she raised her hand.

"No questions! If you have problems following the lesson, either get notes later or consider working on yourself!" was the quick and merciless reply by Mrs. Hansson.

 _'Wow... That was cruel.'_

Chloe could feel the distress radiate from the _girl_ in front of her.

Deciding against sleeping, she started to follow the lesson. Better safe then sorry.

Since she has done the grade once already, the beginning was boring for her. She already knew most of the stuff, being half decent at math. This meant that Chloe had no trouble following the lesson, even while she had to listen to Dana going on and on about the latest gossip, whispering to her when the teacher seemed distracted.

"The new girl is kinda strange, isn't she?" This peaked Chloe's interest. She decided to play along.

"Why do you think that?"

 _'Lets see what the bait catches.'_

"Well, for starters, she is deaf, duh? During the break, I saw her sitting on her own near the fountain. She tried to talk with Victoria. And by talk, I mean she wrote something down. Of course, this lead to Victoria pulling a face, turning around and ignoring her. Max, was that her name? Strange one for a girl, don't you think? She didn't even react, just stood there as if she waited for an answer. After a few minutes, Vic and her posse just walked away." Dana continued. "Then, she just sat there on her own, writing stuff down in some kind of small book. A journal, maybe?"

"Miss Ward, do you have anything to share with the class?" the sharp voice of Mrs. Hansson interrupted Dana.

"No, Mrs. Hansson. Sorry, just checking notes with Chloe."

With this, Dana did not try to start a conversation again, probably thinking she shouldn't push her luck.

Her answer did give Chloe some food for thoughts though.

* * *

After the bell ended the last of today's lessons, Chloe gathered the few items she bothered to take with her into her bag.

Walking out as one of the last students, she noticed the _girl_ walking a few feet in front of her, bag clutched at her side. A few students waited for her to pass before snickering, thereby making her oblivious to it all.

One of the football jocks in particular cached her interest by the way he practically lay in wait. Waiting for the _girl_ to walk past him, he suddenly jumped behind her and screamed in her ear.

The brunette jerked up and slammed against a set of lockers, looking disturbed. Turning around, she scanned the people behind her with wide eyes, clutching the strap of her bag even tighter, turning her knuckles visibly white.

Chloe came to a stop near her, catching the gaze of the _girl._ She could read her eyes like an open book. It was a cry for help, needing someone by her side to defend against the bully's.

Inside Chloe, a struggle started. On the one hand, her instincts and protectiveness towards people on the receiving end of bully's and bigots always drove her to help others. It screamed for her to do... _something._ Because she knew, this was only the beginning of what the _girl_ could experience during her stay if no one intervened.

However, there was another, even greater sensation raging inside her. Anger, maybe even hate. It's message was very clear: This _girl_ was responsible for the loss of her father. Responsible for what happened to the punk's life after the accident. Responsible for everything!

After what felt like hours but probably only lasted seconds, Chloe teared her gaze away from those pleading eyes. Looking forward again, she continued down the hall, out of the school, that gnarling feeling in her stomach getting worse.

 _'I should have helped her...'_


	3. Dreams of days past

Chapter 3 – Dreams of days past

Arriving back home after an uneventful bus ride, Chloe entered through the front door and noticed a message next to the phone on the small table.

 **'Had to pick an extra shift to cover for Stacey. Won't be back before at least 11 pm. Dinner is in the oven.**

 **\- Mom'**

 _'At least she wont bother me about the school day.'_

Dropping the message, her eyes wandered around the wall, something she did quite often in the last few moths. A lot of pictures were either removed or swapped. Pictures of her father. When she saw her mother taking them down, it lead to one of the most heated argument to date. An argument that ended with Chloe running out of the house and not returning until two days later.

Turning around, the strawberry blonde girl slowly walked up the steps to her room. Removing her bag and throwing it into the corner, she lied down on her bed, closed her eyes and folded an arm in front of her eyes.

The punk sighed. She couldn't shake the image of that _girls_ eyes out of her head, and with it that uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Her fight of consciousness drained Chloe even more then she thought.

 _'Fuck, what a shitshow...'_

She could not think of a better description of this day. Between going back to school and having the one person that changed her life for worse in class from now on, Chloe didn't know how to take it all in.

 _'A deaf girl... Damn, wonder how it actually feels like to be deaf. Can't imagine just... not hearing anything? Or does she still hear some sounds? Like some blind persons can still distinguish between some dark and light? I mean, the hearing aid would suggest that. And does she talk?'_

Turning to her side, facing the wall, she pursed her lips and let her thoughts continue.

 _'She does a lot of lip reading, so one would think she could hold a conversation, just not as fast as others maybe. Or does she use sign-language? Can she listen to music with her aid? Wow, the implications of just loosing your hearing... I wonder what made her loose her hearing. Was she born with it? Maybe an... accident? ... Okay, stop it Price!'_

Anger took Chloe over again, this time anger at herself to even contemplate thinking any decent things about the person who ruined her life and family. Before long, she managed to calm down again, but her thoughts combined with today's exhaustion from school made her sleepy, and her eyes closed.

* * *

Slowly opening her eyes, Chloe noticed she was in a completely different place. A sidewalk, to be more precise. Sitting on concrete.

"Come on, pumpkin. I thought you wanted to eat some pancakes."

 _'No... Not this again!'_

Turning her head right, the unmistakable figure of her father was extending a hand, with his short, strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. His clothes were the same as on that day. Plain red shirt, black pair of pants and brown leather shoes.

Looking around, Chloe took in the details. It all looked as she remembered. A jewelry store with large shopping windows to her left, next to it a parlor, its blue facade already faded. A playground across the road. Only a few buildings and a small stretch of the street was visible. Everything else disappeared behind a thick blanket of gray fog.

The fog was not the only thing strange about the picture. Not a single other soul on the streets. No car, no pedestrian, nothing. Not even her mother, who was there during the event. Just her father.

She had this dream a few times already. Every time, it served as a cruel reminder of what happened.

"Whats wrong, sweetie?" William inquired with a soft voice.

"We did this a few time already..." Choosing the direct approach, Chloe hoped this would get her out of here soon.

"Yeah, you really are a fan for pancakes, aren't you? Might turn into one if you continue to eat that much!" Laughing at first, he continued in a gentle tone. "But something else is bothering you. I can see it." Her father sat down next to her, slinging an arm across her shoulders.

Chloe knew that William could always read her like an open book. It was one of the things that made them connect so much better then she did with her mother. Before she knew it, a tear leaked out of her eyes.

"Dad... I met _her_ again today. The girl you saved."

"You did? That is nice, it is always good to meet people again." he squeezed her shoulder. "Did you talk?"

The punk had to suppress a sob. "No... I didn't want to."

"Why not? She seemed like a nice girl." her father inquired further. "I don't see why you two wouldn't get along. You visit the same class. She might be a year younger, but does that matter? Maybe she also likes..."

"SHE KILLED YOU!" Chloe interrupted William before he had a chance to finish.

Hesitating a moment, the short haired man took a deep breath and released a short chuckle.

"He, last time I checked, a truck driver decided to barrel over me, not a small girl."

The punk could not spare a laugh or chuckle. She buried her face in her hands, releasing more tears.

"Chloe, it was not _her_ fault. Things like this do happen. There was a reason for her to be there. I saw her and had to act."

"A reason? What reason could a girl have to just walk on the street?!" Angered, Chloe looked up at her father. "And why did it have to be YOU?!"

Starting to get even more upset, she rose up, followed by William. She threw her hands around, landing punches on her fathers chest while sobbing uncontrollably, who in turn moved in to take her in a full on hug to prevent any more strikes on his chest.

"It was just the way it played out, sweetie. And I am certain you would have done the same."

Standing on the side walk, tears in her eyes, the punk looked up at her father.

"I miss you, dad..."

"I miss you too, pumpkin. But we will see each other again some day."

Closing her eyes again, Chloe relaxed against her father, until he suddenly let go, making her open them again.

Out of the corner of her eyes, a small person stood on the road, trying to pick something up. Brown hair, white dress. Her brain immediately made the connection. It was the _girl_.

At the same time, two other things happened. Her father, running up to the brunette. A truck, visibly swirling around on the street, on a direct course towards both the girl and her father.

" **DAD! WATCH OUT!"**

She knew it was hopeless. It happened in the span of a few seconds, just as she remembered. The truck passed the place her father and the girl stood, loosing control entirely. It disappeared down the street behind the fog, the sound of a crash the only thing she could hear.

Only the tire marks remained of the truck and her father. A small white frame on the other side of the street cached her interest. Moving closer, it revealed to be the _girl,_ eyes closed, hair disheveled, her hands clutching something she could not see. A trail of blood ran down her forehead.

* * *

Waking up startled, Chloe found herself back in her own room. Her face covered in sweat, she slowly sat up and leaned against the headrest.

 _'Fucking dreams...'_

She felt more exhausted then before, but did not dare to close her eyes again, fearing another such dreams. The memories of the one she just had started to sink in. Sitting against the headrest, angling her knees up, she crossed her arms on her knees and rested her head on them. The dream itself was nothing new to her, the crash replayed itself numerous times in her sleep, making her almost numb to it. Almost. Something else bothered her, though.

 _'What did he mean with "She had a reason?" My dad seemed convinced it wasn't her fault. But then again, this is just a fucked up dream. Damn, I am probably ready to be sent away in a straight jacket.'_

A noise caught her attention. Her mobile phone. Flipping it open, she checked her messages.

 **Steph: hey chloe! up to chill tomorrow evening? maybe watch some new movies I got?**

 _'Ha! With the amount of bootleg DVD's she got, I wonder if she would dress up as a pirate for Halloween? I could offer her my costume, not that I wore it after... Never mind!'_

Shaking her thoughts, Chloe typed her answer on the beaten keyboard, pressing down hard on some buttons to make them actually react.

 **Chloe: hi steph. sure y not. what time?**

 **Steph: 6:30 pm at my place. mikey, treavor and some other folks will be there too.**

 **Chloe: booze n weed too, I suppose?**

 **Steph: ha, as if. aside from the fact that it would cost a fortune, I dont think someone would sell us.**

 **Chloe: i thought justin had some contacts?**

 **Steph: justin needs to learn to shut up. But sry gtg cya then =D**

 _'Urgh... emojis...'_

Chloe closed the phone and threw it on her bed. Trying to decide what to do now to distract her, she had two options dictated depending on the doctrine: Homework or cleaning up her room, as commanded by her mother weeks ago.

Choosing the only sane option, the strawberry blonde girl got up, left her room and went downstairs. Dinner is more important.

* * *

After dinner, Chloe decided to tackle her homework. Although the idea of just skipping it seemed enticing, she decided to not risk it and get on with it.

However, something still distracted her. It was not the usual reluctance to do the work. The events after the last lesson combined with her dream kept her thinking, added to it the comments Dana made.

Usually, her dreams were just a replay of the accident. She could scream, she could cry, she could run away. Some invisible force would make her watch it all again. This time, it was different. It was the first time she interacted with her father. Talk to him and get a response he didn't give in all those other dreams.

 _'He told me it was not her_ _fault. How can I believe a figment of my imagination? And telling me there was a reason?'_

It all seemed very strange for Chloe. Her thoughts went back to school today. The _girl_ obviously had trouble socializing, not just because of her disability.

Scribbling along with her math homework, the image of the distressed girl, not able to understand the teacher, reinserted itself, followed by her pleading eyes during the locker incident. It made her feel upset...

And she couldn't understand why.

* * *

Next morning, a piercing sound woke Chloe up. Normally, her mother would be the one to wake her up, but since she worked late yesterday and was probably still in bed, the punk decided to actually set her alarm clock.

Choosing a pair of ripped blue jeans and a gray hoodie with a black raven spreading it wings on it as today's outfit, she went into the bathroom to follow her morning routine. After finishing her shower and brushing her teeth, she dressed herself.

 _'Man, I really need some more clothes. Maybe a leather jacket, and some tank tops for the summer? That would be awesome! Doubt mother dearest would pay for these kinds of clothes...'_

Money has been a delicate topic after William's demise. Although Joyce would put in extra shifts like a madwoman, they rarely made ends meet. Although her mother never openly talked about it, Chloe did see some of the envelopes, sent from banks or the electricity provider. Somehow, they avoided foreclosure or power cut off for now.

This affected their daily lives, too. Chloe had to use an old, beat down flip phone of the last generation, bought on a flea market, while her peers had newer phones with more features. Most of her clothes were either gifts or from dollar stores.

Their family car needed a stop at the mechanic months ago. But there was simply no money for it. Chloe actually had a look inside the hood of the car and managed to fix some of the most obvious flaws with the limited expertise her father taught her, but there was only so much she could do about it. It was only a question of time when the car would break down completely.

The punk knew that she should get a part-time job, like some classmates do in her age. Support the household, maybe put some aside for savings. But she could not motivate herself enough. This could be the fault of either her emotional state (as some of the therapist her mother made her visit suggested) or simply that she couldn't give a damn about anything anymore.

Shaking her head, the strawberry blonde girl walked down the stairs, into the kitchen. No one here, so her mother is either asleep or already on another shift. She could just look if the car is parked outside, but didn't really care.

Deciding on cereal for breakfast, she walked up to the cupboard and prepared her meal, eating it in silence, her thoughts already ahead at school. Specifically, at one person...


	4. Notes and tears

Chapter 4 – Notes and tears

Entering the small classroom of their first lesson, History, Chloe again sat down at an empty desk near the window. There are a lot less desks in this room, so most students had to sit with a neighbor. Luckily, she was early, so her favorite spot was still empty. Some morbid curiosity would have her see if the _girl_ would actually dare to sit next to her again.

 _'Who in their right mind would give a bunch of teenagers History as first period in the morning? Must be a sadist.'_

While the class room slowly filled up, the punk took her time to actually look around and take in her classmates. Only a few people stood out.

You had Dana and Juliet, sitting together at the rear window side, wearing almost identically sets of clothes comprised of white shirts with some pink inscription on it. ( _'Is that a unicorn? Seriously?'_ ) Blue jeans and black 'n white sneakers completed the picture.

Next to them at the other end of the room, Nathan and Victoria. Everyone knew how much they saw themselves as reigning monarchs of the school. Victoria, the queen of junior high, even clothed in a royal fashion, with cashmere and what not. Her parents were apparently pretty thick with the Prescott's, doing a lot of public work for them with photos and art of the Bay, sliding the Prescott's business into a better light then they deserve. This seemed to pay well for them, which is evident by Victoria's clothes alone.

Nathan was the undisputed King. Whatever trouble he got in, his Father would surely get him out. Last year, when he was a grade below Chloe, he got into an argument with some guys from the football team. It apparently involved some kind of dispute about how deranged Nathan seemed, something Chloe could not deny. He could go of on a tangent in an instant, raging and rampaging against teachers or students alike.

The argument escalated with Nathan insulting and punching the guys which resulted in him getting a black eye and a few bruised rips in return. Nathan started the fight, so one would assume he would get a punishment as well.

 _'But by the power of Shitscott, he got away scot free while the jocks got immediately suspended for weeks and later even expelled. No doubt daddy took care of that and any hope for a scholarship later in life, ending a career in football.'_

This event would serve as a reminder for everyone not to fuck with him or those he deemed friends.

Both were the kind of people Chloe would be glad never to get involved with.

Most of the other students are either new or not really persons Chloe interacted with, so she never bothered to actually get to know them more closely.

Looking forward again, she just managed to see the _girl_ walking in. Her gaze wandered the room, searching for a place to sit. Unfortunately, all empty spaces were already occupied. For a short time, she looked towards Chloe, but didn't established eye contact, instead walking towards a table only occupied by a boy with short brown hair.

Silently asking if she could sit down, she was met with a sneer. "Go away, don't want to get your sickness." Immediately, the _girl_ seemed to understand his words. She took a step back, looked around and went to the next one.

No joy again, met with a short "Fuck off, deafy."

She was starting to get upset, eyes beginning to moisture, adding oil into the fire that was her classmates bullying.

The room began to observe her, chuckles could be haired after every denial to sit.

"Just sit at the front, maybe you are actually useful for once in your life by holding the teacher's book up." Nathan added into what now became howling laughter.

When she arrived near Chloe, the punk had to decide quickly.

 _'Either blow her off, or let her sit. Fuck...'_

The now familiar battle of feelings started again. Her anger went on full offensive, planting words like _'Killed your father'_ or _'deserves nothing less'_ in her head, practically screaming at her.

After a short time, something else took over. Another voice intervened. _'She had a reason'_ , _'Not her fault'_ and _'Give her a chance!'_.

The struggle was cut short when Chloe made eye contact with her. The brunette stood in front of her, clutching her left arm with her right hand, clearly shy and hesitant. Blue eyes, already rimmed with tears.

 _'God damn puppy eyes!'_

Wordlessly, Chloe nodded her head towards the empty chair to her left. Although the _girl_ understood her message, a few seconds passed before she sat down, slowly and hesitant. She reached into her back and retrieved her notebook and pencil case.

"Yo, Price, looking for a failure as a companion? Seems to fit you."

 _'Of course...'_

The punk closed her eyes and grinded her teeth. Of course Nathan would pick up on that. She would not, however, give him the satisfaction of lashing out. Opening her eyes again, her neighbor made eye contact again. Sheprobably did not hear Nathan's comment and therefore wasn't aware that the class saw this as a statement. The brunette looked at her with a neutral expression, probably still not sure how to take all of it in. On closer inspection however, Chloe could have sworn she saw something else. Almost invisible.

 _'Is she smiling?'_

Before she could find an answer, Mrs. Enfield walked in and stole everyone's attention.

"Good morning class! Sorry to run late, on the second day no less, but here I am now. Misplaced my glasses, of course... But here we go!"

The first ten minutes went like a blur while Mrs. Enfield started to talk about today's topic.

 _'Who gets excited about this kind of stuff that early in the morning.'_

The strawberry blonde girl did not pay attention to her neighbor, who again started to scribble away at her notebook while paying attention to her teacher.

A few more minutes passed and Chloe was ready to fall asleep. Which didn't go unnoticed by her teacher.

"Mrs. Price. Could you repeat that please?"

This caught her off guard. She didn't even heard the topic of the lesson.

"Ehm..."

 _'Oh shit... Think of something, quick!'_

Looking around slightly startled, with the rest of the class either listening or minding their own business, her Teacher looked at her, one hand held against her hip, with an expecting glare.

Behind her, on the Board, the topic read:

 **'Political _stiuation_ before 1861 in the _Untied_ States.'**

 _'God, if you are unable to keep your glasses, why don't you start wearing contacts? Not the first time this happened...'_

Suddenly, she felt a slight sting against her left elbow, but did not dare to look down on it, since she was still observed by her Teacher.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Enfield, what was that?"

 _'Distract her, maybe get some heat off.'_

"Well, as you can read, our topic is..." She turned around and squinted at the board.

"Oh, my goodness. Excuse my grammar, let me correct that, dear god."

Using the opportunity presented to her, Chloe looked down at the paper practically shoved under her elbow.

 _'What the...?'_

 **'James Buchanan was the 15th President of the United States, serving just prior to the Civil War from 1857 to 1861'**

She recognized the handwriting. It was the same writing as in the note yesterday. It was from _her_.

"Okay, all fixed now." Mrs. Enfield wiped her hands in the typical manner. "Well, Mrs. Price, could you repeat what I said a minute ago?"

Deciding to at least alter the response a bit to not sound too suspicious, Chloe answered.

"You were talking about the President before the Civil War... James... ehm... Borganan? Did I hear that right?"

A surprised look on Mrs. Enfield gave the punk a bit of satisfaction. Although she didn't dislike Mrs. Enfield, it always felt good to prove someone wrong, even if it was undeserved. Her teacher quickly recovered.

"Not quite, but you are close. His name was James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States. During his administration, tensions grew..."

 _'Phew... And time to zone out again... But what was that? Why did she help me?"_

While sliding the paper back to her left, Chloe looked up and met _her_ smiling face. This caught her off guard. Something about that open smile made her breathing hitch, ever so slightly.

 _'Oh no... Nonono! Don't start to blush now!'_

Feeling heat beginning to rise up her cheeks, the punk quickly looked to front again, thereby not giving any response to her neighbor.

 _'This can NOT be happening!'_

Out of the corner of her eyes ( _'Damn, I'm beginning to get good at that!'_ ) she managed to catch the disappointed look on the _girls_ face. Seeing this produced an uncomfortable feeling in Chloe's stomach. Without thinking, she ripped a piece of paper out of her textbook and scribbled something down on it.

Hesitating to slide it to her left, again fighting a conflict of interest, she overcame this with her fathers voice in the back of her mind. _'It's not her fault!'_

 **'Thx 4 saving my ass'**

A small, sweet giggling sound, almost not noticeable over the sound of Mrs. Enfield talking, caught Chloe's left ear and before she knew it, she herself was faintly smiling, hiding it behind a raised hand supporting her chin.

 _'I am so fucked...'_

* * *

The school day went on rather slowly and without any more interaction between Chloe and her neighbor _,_ and after a lunch-break spent just between herself and another insult to her taste buds in the cafeteria, she made her way to the gym building.

 _'Physical Education AFTER lunch? Who thought of that? Can I sue him? Probably the same fucker who placed History as first period.'_

Entering the girls locker room she quickly changed into her sportswear, comprising of some plain black shirt and shorts with white hall shoes, all the while trying to ignore the typical drama around her.

While Dana made a scene about her clothes getting creased in her bag and Victoria showing of her new expensive sports shoes, Chloe noticed the _girl_ siting at the corner, already dressed in almost the same clothes the punk wore, but in white.

When the brunette got up to enter the main hall, she walked past one of Victoria's cronies, Taylor, who immediately saw an opportunity. Extending her leg just so slightly, it was enough to trip her over, not paying attention being her downfall. A loud ' **thud'** could be heard and after a few seconds, laughter filled the room.

"Watch where you're going! I thought you are deaf, not blind!" Victoria's voice echoed over the laughter.

Witnessing this scene, Chloe's gut wrenched, but that voice in her head, insisting that shedeserved it, intervened before the punk could react.

 _'_ _She_ _didn't pay any attention now as she didn't pay any back then._ _She_ _deserves this!'_

Turning around, the strawberry blonde walked off into the main hall, not able to stay there one second longer.

Taking position at the opposite side of the hall, she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, waiting for the rest of the class, while the Teacher Mr. Morsen prepared some sporting equipment.

Mr. Morsen was the only PE-Teacher at Arcadia Junior High after the last one, Mrs. Eldrige, retired. He was a veteran sports champion, even once attending the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002. Even though he was a sports freak, his teaching methods are far more relaxed then one would expect, trying to encourage more then demand, but he was also easily overwhelmed with a class of teenagers not behaving.

The students slowly trickled in and assembled near the equipment. Last one in was the _girl_ , standing at the edge of the group, clearly a pariah, looking down on the ground.

"Right, Class. I know that PE after lunch is not ideal, but we can only work with the schedule provided."

He went on to explain some techniques with the sporting equipment, jumping around hurdles as well as doing balancing acts on wooden benches.

After half an hour of different exercises with the class, he went on to explain the next activity, Dodgeball.

 _'Patented by bullies and assholes since... forever?'_

The class divided into two teams. Chloe was picked relatively early by the first team for her height and strength, not that she had much interest in playing anyway.

After a few minutes, only the _girl_ remained, other less liked classmates glad with being picked over her. She went to the second team automatically, which entailed a few booing noises from members of that team, quickly silenced by a loud whistle from Mr. Morsen.

Taking up position in the back to be as unproductive as possible, Chloe could see the _girl_ clearly struggling against the opposing team AND her own team. She would suddenly stand alone on the field, just to be picked off by a ball from the other team directed at her face, which in turn resulted in loud complaints towards her by her own team. Sitting on the sideline, every time her own team catches a ball, someone else in her team quickly went on the field again, denying hera chance of returning, even though she just got ready to run in again, one time even shoved back towards the rear by Nathan, which tripped her over again. Chloe watched all this while her stomach started to churn.

The Teacher himself was busy with another student who complained about an aching knee and did not witness the act.

 _'Not that Nathan would have gotten any problems...'_

"Not fair! She can't play with us!" or "She is deaf, how is this a fair game!" were only some of the comments directed at the teacher, who was clearly overwhelmed with having a deaf, bullied girl in his class.

"Yo, teach! I think it is time for her to sit this one out. Don't want my father to hear you neglect normal students for a cripple, _do you_?"

Nathans sneer voice penetrated the hall towards the teacher, emphasizing the last sentence. Mr. Morsen, looking rather troubled, used his whistle and pointed towards the brunette in question, pointing towards the other side of the hall in a clear gesture for _her_ to leave the playing field. He added a meek comment about 'ensuring her safety and health' towards the deaf girl.

 _'Wow, what a dick move... How can a grown up be intimidated by a spoiled teenager like that?'_

Head bowed, the brunette slowly walked towards the exit with some more nasty comments addressed towards her retreating form, followed by the now all to familiar howling.

Something urged Chloe to just follow herand at least keep an eye out.

"Mr. Morsen? Could I use the bathroom real quick?"

 _'Mouth, what are you doing? Stop this treachery!'_

Her teacher looked a bit confused, but decided not to question it and nodded.

With her mind still protesting, she entered the changing room. The _girl_ was nowhere to be seen. Her belongings however were still in the corner, ruling out a sudden disappearance. A sniffing sound caught Chloe's attention, the noise coming from the bathroom.

Slowly, she made her way towards the door, seeing the lock indicating 'Occupied'. Standing next to the door, the punk could hear the person inside, the _girl_ no doubt, softly crying.

Leaning her head against the door frame, Chloe found herself in a battle of consciousness again.

 _'Knock on the door. Ask if_ _she_ _is alright. Do something!'_ The voice of her father urged her to act.

 _'Don't you dare! She destroyed everything important to you. She deserves this!'_ Her own voice, although with a darker tone, insisted.

The fight went on back and forth until a clicking sound interrupted her.

The door opened and the brunette walked out, stopping at the sight of Chloe, misty eyes widening a bit.

Before the punk could react, the _girl_ pushed past her and disappeared behind the lockers. Deciding not to follow, Chloe stood at the entrance to the bathroom, feeling very sick in her stomach.


	5. Communication

Chapter 5 – Communication

After PE, Math was again the last period of the day. Entering the same class room as yesterday, Chloe chose a desk at the window again, a bit more to the front now.

Sitting down with a heavy sigh and putting her bag on the empty chair next to her to deter any unwanted neighbors, she could again not stop thinking about the _girl._

She was nowhere to be seen after the period ended, her belongings not in the corner of the changing room.

The changing room was filled with more howling laughing when Victoria recounted how the brunette tripped over.

"I am telling you, it is a good thing the Teacher threw her out of the game. Who knows how much she could hurt others? One wrong step and you would trip over her useless form."

Her cronies took the lead in laughing, and a stern look around the changing room by Victoria 'convinced' others to join in. Even Dana couldn't spare a smirk.

 _'Wow, I did not expect her to find this funny. But then again, she probably thought its better to bite the bullet and laugh before you find yourself at the receiving end as well.'_ Chloe herself did not laugh, but found herself unable to think of stopping the others in doing so, even if she did it in the past. This made her feel even more guilty.

On her way back to the school building, the punk did not spot her anywhere.

 _'That's strange? Then again, I never saw her during break in the cafeteria or at the courtyard myself. Not even at the fountain, where almost everyone else is. Wonder where she is?'_

While the classroom filled, Chloe kept an eye on the door, awaiting a sign of the brunette. Somewhere during the commotion of a class awaiting there last period of the day to start, the _girl_ appeared, slowly walking in to the room, her eyes reamed in red. Head again down, she quietly made her way towards Chloe's table, only then spotting the bag on the unoccupied chair. Her face looked even more sad, if that is even possible. She slowly started to look for another place to sit.

 _'Her day was fucked up enough, maybe I should give her a break?'_

 _'No, nope, no chance in hell you start this now!'_

The darker voice quipped up again. _'We had this talk before, you will not help her now. Let her run the gauntlet again! Enjoy it!'_

 _'Fuck you, imaginary voice! No one tells me what to do.'_

Quickly silencing any doubt, the punk removed the bag from the chair and made a motion with her hand, implying the brunette to sit. Hesitating, the deaf girl slowly removed her bag around her shoulders and sat down, staring at her desk. Chloe could see tears still forming in her eyes, ready to fall any second.

Luckily, the class seemed to be either to exhausted after PE or just didn't care anymore, so no comments could be heard.

Shortly after that encounter, Mrs. Hansson made her entrance in the usual business like style, almost immediately beginning to write stuff on the board and talking with her back turned against the class, only stopping to berate students who made unwanted comments and noises or to ask questions.

Again, the _girl_ had problems following the lessons. Mrs. Hansson's teaching style might be effective, but would lead to sever problems with anyone not being able to concentrate 100% on her words.

Although familiar with the topic, Chloe decided to write along some notes of what her teacher said. Before long, a comprehensive guide of that days topic appeared on the page of her notebook, showing ways to solve the mathematical tasks given to the students.

When they received some of those tasks to solve during the last twenty minutes, it was obvious that her neighbor didn't grasp the essentials, owing to the fact that she couldn't follow the teacher. The brunette would scribble on her notebook, only to erase or outright cross over her solutions.

During all this, the deaf girls demeanor seemed to change from bad to worse. Her eyes never appeared to actually dry up again, making Chloe worry about her potentially crying in class. Just thinking about that possibility made the punk feel upset, which in turn made her feel angry.

 _'She cries, so what? You cried for weeks after what she did!'_ Her darker voice started again.

 _'What if my father was right? That it is not her fault? Maybe, just maybe, she suffered too?'_ Chloe started to ask herself, only to have a direct response.

 _'Bullshit... You believe some fucked up dream? How very sad...'_

 _'Well, I am currently debating with a voice in my head, so what am I to believe right now?'_

Her return was met with silence. Winning this fight, the punk resolved to do... **something** to help her neighbor.

Scribbling something on the top of her guide, she gently slid the paper towards the girl, taking care not to be seen by her teacher.

 **'Use this, the first three paragraphs can be used for task 1-3, the rest for 4-7.'**

From the corner of her eye, Chloe could see the _girl_ reading her message, a small smile appearing on her face, before she glanced up towards Chloe, who tried to stare impassively at her textbook, all the while also trying to ignore the stinging feeling starting to form at the corner of her mouth.

 _'Don't you dare to smile, face! Don't... you... Fuck!'_

Not able to resist, her mouth started to form a small smile. A few minutes and calculus later, something brushed the left elbow of the strawberry blonde girl. A small note.

 **'Thank you. I was really starting to get desperate. - Max'**

 _'Fuck her thanks. She should beg for forgiveness for ruining your l-'_

 _'Shut the fuck up just this once!'_

Cutting short the beginning of another rant in her head, Chloe wrote something on the back of the note before returning it with all the stealth she could muster.

 **'no probs. consider it payback for this morning. -Chloe'**

Without further interaction, both girls continued with their task, using the last few minutes to finish. When the school bell rang for the last time that day, most students got up quickly to enjoy their free time. While packing her own stuff away, Chloe saw how the deaf girl looked at the guide once more, probably sad to give it away, before sliding it back towards the punk, not looking up.

 _'She probably didn't had time to make a copy... Maybe I should...'_

 _'Dude, what the fuck? Are you even listening to yourself? You hate that girl with every fiber of your being for what she did. And now you want to **help** her again? Get real, man...'_

 _'I am only helping a classmate, something I would do for everyone... Except Victoria... or Nathan... or Dana... or... Man whateverthefuck, shut up!'_

Deciding quickly before any more voices could add to the ever growing conflict of interest, she slid the paper back to her left. This made the _girl_ look up at Chloe again.

"Keep it."

Those two simple words, the first ones spoken by Chloe for almost an hour, startled the brunette. After recovering for a few seconds, a blush could be seen forming on her cheeks, which provoked an now quite familiar feeling of butterflies in the punks stomach.

 _'Oh god, not this again...'_

Before she could get any more flustered than she already was, Chloe took her bag and stormed out of the room, leaving behind a confused classmate.

* * *

Walking out of the school with a quick pace, Chloe took a left and stopped at a secluded corner next to the courtyard, known to be a smoking spot, evident by countless cigarette stumps.

 _'Damn, I wish I had a cigarette... Not that I know if it would help.'_

Leaning against the wall, her gaze directed towards the courtyard, she tried to consolidate her thoughts.

 _''Keep it?' What the hell was I thinking. My first words in two days with her and that's it?'_

While contemplating the events of the day, her eyes picked up a person moving from the school to the parking lot. Its the _girl_. Clutching her bag again, she looked around the courtyard before moving further, probably spotting if the coast is clear.

 _'Wow, its the second day and she already is scared of just walking across to the parking lot? She must be taking this hard...'_

The punk groaned and swiped her left hand across her face.

 _'Of course she does, dumb ass. New to a school, already getting bullied. People talking directly behind your back and you cant even hear them? Already getting physically assaulted. Damn...'_

The brunette quickly approached a white Honda Civic, when two people exited the car, spotting the smaller girl and hugging her. Chloe could only seem them partially behind other cars. A man and a woman. The man had short brown hair and a big beard, looking like a lumberjack. Completely different from this were his clothes. Black business suit, white shirt and black tie.

The woman had long brown hair, about hip length. Her charcoal gray dress was completed with a matching knee-length skirt.

 _'Probably her parents, getting her out of this hell hole for the day. Nice car, looks new. They don't seem to have problems paying the bills...'_

Jealousy started to take over Chloe, thinking back to the financial situation of her family.

 _'I loose my father and we get into financial problems because of her, and she gets to keep her parents, who seemed to be earning well enough. How is that fair?'_

The three person started to wave their hands around frantically. While Chloe couldn't catch the expression on the face of the older woman, the man looked furious. A few times, the smaller brunette would look around towards the school, tears in her eyes. Chloe also noticed the brunette WAS able to talk and converse with others, not using sign-language or a textbook during the conversation with her parents.

In between their argument in sign-language, one could hear some words exchanged between the parents. Although the punk could not hear all of them, she distinctively heard "This has to end." and "I will rip their heads off." After some more discussion, the deaf girl managed to almost push her parents into the car before it drove off.

 _'Damnit! Why am I so obsessed with her? That strange feeling I got when she smiled at me. And why is my stomach feeling so upset when I see her get bullied?'_

Shaking her head, an action Chloe caught herself doing quite often these last two days, the punk quickly walked over to the bus station to not miss her ride home.

* * *

Arriving at the front of her home, Chloe took her time taking in the looking over the house, noticing the slowly fading blue paint.

 _'Dad never got to finish painting the house. I remember going to the hardware store with him. He allowed me to choose the color... Damn, was I happy. Although he had to talk me down from red with yellow flames. Guess painting a house like that doesn't really fit the neighborhood...'_

Entering through the front door, she was immediately greeted by the smell of food.

 _'Guess that means Mom is home. Is the hunger greater then the need for some quiet upstairs? … I think it is.'_

"Chloe? Is that you?"

Annoyed, the punk walked in the kitchen and rolled her eyes.

"Who else do you think this is? Santa Clause?"

Joyce, dressed in her usual waitress outfit, put her left hand up her hip and pointed a spatula with the other.

"Always with the smart answers, Chloe! Can't you at least try to... Whatever, I made some dinner for you before I have to get to work."

The younger girl just let out a grunt and moved towards towards the cupboard, retrieving a plate and filling it with some spaghetti.

 _'Smells nice. My mother really knows how to cook... The only thing she is better at is being a pain in the-'_

"How were your first two schooldays?"

 _'Of course...'_

Moving towards the table and taking a seat, Chloe decided quickly to not tell her too much.

"Its okay... Mrs. Enfield is one of our teachers. Class sucks, of course, but otherwise..." The punk started to dig in and left the rest of the sentence in the air.

"Language, Chloe! Did you do your homework?" Joyce sat down on the opposite side with her own plate and started to eat.

Chloe let out a whine. "Mom! Of course... I said I would do better this time!"

This made her mother smile. "Good... I'm sorry honey, but I'm worried. This is your last chance, Chloe. I know times were rough, after all that happened..." Her face fell for a second before continuing. "But you are still a good student. Please don't throw this away..."

Without acknowledging her, the Punk continued to eat her meal. A few minutes of silence followed before Joyce spoke up again.

"Any interesting new classmates?"

 _'Damn... No, I wont give her any details!'_

"A few, didn't catch their names. Except maybe Dana and Juliet. Or... Victoria and Nathan." The last two names came out with a hint of a snarl.

"Goodness, hope they wont get the class into too much trouble..."

This provoked another rolled eyes from Chloe.

 _'Yeah yeah, with "class" you mean "me".'_

"Any boys that caught your eyes?" In an instant, the younger girl chocked on a strand of spaghetti, coughing while looking up at her mother with a dark glare.

"What the hell. Mom? Don't start with this again!"

Although Chloe never openly came out, she knew with certainty that she wasn't overtly interested in boys. Curious, maybe. Another word would be Bi, with a leaning towards girls. This was something she once actually talked about with her father, a few months before the accident. Like a lot of things, Chloe felt that she could speak with her father far easier about such things, instead of her mother. He was really understanding, raising her to respect same sex relationships. He told her to be relaxed about it and find out herself, and promised to be happy whatever she choose.

Once, last years, she had a short thing with one of her classmates, Elliot. He was a nice guy at first, but it became clear rather quickly that she was not really enjoying a relationship with him. He became really clingy, something that annoyed the Punk. Two weeks into their relationship, he decided to bring it to the next level on Saturday evening, shoving his tongue down her throat and groping her chest. After some well placed punches to his stomach, they went their separate ways. Thankfully, her being held back a year meant they were not in class together anymore.

 _'Hope I never have to see his face again... He almost went full on stalker on me. Asking where I was, with whom I spent time, who I texted, what I was doing all the time... Sick fuck...'_

"Okay, okay! I will get off your back now. I have to go anyway, my shift is about to start. Take care, Chloe." With this, Joyce stood up, washed off her plate and snatched her keys before walking towards the front door.

"And don't forget your homework! Your room needs cleaning, too!" Before Chloe could come up with a sneer remark, the door closed, shortly followed by the noise of a car starting and driving off.

 _'Screw you too, mom...'_ With these thoughts, Chloe continued her meal in silence, already planing her visit to Steph.


	6. Under the streetlamps

Chapter 6 – Under the streetlamps

The next few weeks went by pretty quickly for Chloe. School was still going through all the lessons the Punk remembered from her last year, and owing to the fact that she actually did at least most of the homework meant that she drew quite a lot less flak from the teachers. The first few exams they wrote actually turned out really good, giving her an B+ in Science, an A in Math ( _'Ha, of course!'_ ) and a C+ in History.

Her new neighbor became her constant neighbor from day three onward. Although they did not exchange any more words, the _girl_ would help Chloe with some other classes or when she again dozed off in class, either with the help of small notes or a gentle nudge to her sides. Especially those contact made the strawberry blonde girl feel strange, almost as if an electric charge would run through her, but she quickly discarded these ideas.

In return, Chloe gave her all sorts of guides, tips and pointers during Math or Science. While they had to keep it secret from Mrs. Hansson, who was like a harpy when it came to notes IN class, other teachers like Mrs. Enfield or Mr. Groovers didn't mind, giving her more room to help.

The _girl_ was actually not bad herself in school, considering both her disability and the constant vicious attacks by her classmates. Her understanding in History and English Literature were especially envious and helped Chloe out more then ones with well placed notes and quick peeks at her neighbors notebook, who turned it just in the right angle for the Punk to be able to read.

The Punk still had a lot of reservations towards the _girl._ Her darker consciousness reminded her constantly of what the brunette did to her, planting hatred and ill thoughts in her head, while her other side, prominent through the voice of her father, would try to dissipate any of these.

Bullying continued in the following weeks. While in the classroom, it was restricted to words and whispers, something the brunette either couldn't hear or just ignored.

It got worse during breaks or PE-Class. The ever repeating classic were her school bag getting taken from her and thrown around, the contents spilled on the lawn or thrown into the bin. Sometimes, a vindictive student would sneak up behind her and scream in her ear, completely panicking her. One other time they would use a scissor to cut most of the strap of her bag, leaving her with a damaged bag which spilled it content in the hallway. In the changing room, it would be the typical "tripped over by accident" which repeated itself at least three times.

Each time any of these happened, Chloe's gut felt like a pinball machine. She didn't step in, getting held back by some invisible force, refusing to make her muscles obey. This was accompanied by the now familiar voice.

 _'She deserves this.'_

Her reaction would be a quick withdrawal, pretending to not witnessing what happened to her brunette neighbor.

The bullying never got reported. No classmate bothered to speak up, especially not those who got bullied before, being glad that someone else was the target. The _girl_ herself never approached any teacher about it, which did not surprise Chloe. Either it was out of fear, or because she already knew it would change nothing, especially since Nathan and Victoria would cover for it. It was again amazing how two minors could terrorize an entire school and get away with it.

Only Mrs. Enfield, who seemed to pick up on the problem somewhat, spook to the class on two separate occasions. Each time appealing to the class, saying that "You are all mature enough to know better.", to "Help others who need help." and "Report bullying to the staff before it escalates further.". This fell on deaf ears, of course.

Chloe would not report it, either. She thought about it, more then once, but each time something held her back, her own mind protesting. This would be taken to the extreme today, when she stood in front of Mrs. Enfield after a particular brutal day for the brunette, only to suddenly have her words stuck in her throat. All she received in return was a strange look and a smile, accompanied by a lighthearted pat on the shoulder

"Don't worry, it is worse with age. I'm sure you remember again, tomorrow."

Without saying anything, Chloe took her bag and left the classroom, pissed of at herself for not stepping up.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Chloe was lying in her bed, a textbook in her lap.

 _'English Literature, oh how I hate you.'_

Although they would write an exam the next day, the Punk could not concentrate on the words and sentences written before her. Her thoughts would constantly wander back towards school, but not the lessons. The strawberry blonde noticed this trend developing in the last two months.

Most of these thoughts were about the _girl._ At the beginning, they would revolve around the bullying, her mind replaying some of them, with added comments by her darker consciousness. Most of these were a repeat of her all-time favorites.

 _'She deserves this.' 'Let her suffer like you suffered.' 'Destroy her life like she destroyed yours.'_

However, with each week of contact with her neighbor, those voices grew quieter, slowly being replaced by the soft voice of her father.

 _'She suffered, too.' 'It wasn't her fault.' 'She had a reason.'_

This would slowly change. Chloe found herself thinking of the _girl_ far more in personal terms, removing the bullying aspect. These thoughts started to appear after the brunette "rescued" her from dozing of during a particular boring class by Mrs. Hansson.

* * *

Her teacher had even less patience that day, and she already threw out two other students for whispering in class.

The Punk had a short night, staying up late with Steph and her friends, playing through a spontaneous round of DnD. The brunette, who didn't manage to get Chloe's attention through careful shuffling of papers or poking her sides, grabbed one of her neighbors hands, which rested next to her face, and squeezed it. Slowly realizing what the pressure against her hand was, the Punk suddenly jerked her head up, a jolt running through her body.

She would not acknowledge the _girl_ for the rest of the class, hiding her blushing face behind her hands, which supported her head to keep it upright. Chloe's stomach felt like an entire fleet of planes got lost in there.

* * *

This made her think of the brunette even more. She would picture the _girl's_ facein front of her, noting the freckles on her pale skin, her brunette, shoulder length hair. Dreamy, blue eyes, filled with curiosity during class, or sadness when she had to pack her bag again after her contents got spilled again.

Before long, the Punk made a full mental stop, and looked up in horror.

 _'Holy fucking shit... Am I starting to crush on her? Nononono...'_

Feeling uncomfortable, Chloe decided to concentrate on her textbook again, eager to be distracted by anything, even boring Literature.

A few minutes later, her thoughts returned towards the brunette. More precisely, the events of that day.

* * *

Normally, the brunette had to suffer only a few bullying attempts per day. Either a jock running up behind her, scaring her to death. Or Victoria snatching her bag, rummaging through it before discarding the contents wherever she pleases. Maybe one of Victoria's lackeys, tripping her over in the hallway or in the changing-room.

Added to the mix where the typical comments, ranging from "Stupid deafy, what do you want here?" over "Did your father beat your mother during pregnancy for you to turn deaf?" to "Maybe we should poke a hot stick through your ears, might fix it or get rid of you."

But that Thursday, she had to live through a practical best-off. During the first period of chemistry, a classmate "accidentally" spilled her flask with chemical content over the _girls_ workstation, ruining her work for the day. Mr. Groovers had to hold her back after school to repeat the experiment, giving her undeserved detention, since it was graded.

During PE, after getting tripped over by Taylor in the locker room, she was targeted during tennis, receiving multiple balls in her face by different opponents, again getting called of the field by a clueless PE-Teacher (after another of Nathan's 'persuasion') who wanted to 'protect her'.

At lunch-break, her notebook apparently "teleported" itself into the bin in the girls bathroom, resulting in the deaf being late for Algebra and getting chewed out by the teacher, to the amusement of the class.

At the last period, History, Chloe could not help herself and stole a few glances over to her left, noticing her neighbor just sitting at her desk, an empty look in her eyes. But no tears.

 _'Probably wasted enough of those these past two months already.'_

* * *

Shaking her thoughts, the Punk again concentrated on her textbook. But again, she could not stay on the task at hand.

 _'Damn, why is that so hard today? And its already 7 PM? Maybe its time for a break. A small stroll through the neighborhood? Catch some fresh air and get my head clear.'_

Quickly, Chloe discarded the textbook on her bed, got up and threw on her jacket, preparing for November temperature outside.

Out of her room, the Punk quietly walked down the stairs, mindful of her mother in the living room, and not interested in any conversations about where she would go.

Reaching the front door, Chloe sneaked out with stealth equal to that of a ninja, before making her way down the neighborhood.

* * *

Lost in her mind, the Punk strolled down the sidewalk, no real destination in mind.

 _'Man, I could really use a cigarette right about now...'_

Shoving her hands into her pockets to shield them from the cold winds coming from the ocean, Chloe tried hard to think of anything **BUT** School and... the _girl_. She failed.

 _'Why can't I stop thinking about her? In the end, she ruined my life... And now I start to crush on her? How fucking fair...'_

Continuing down the road, the tall girl got upset and angry with each step, her thoughts constantly revolving around the same topics.

 _'It's like I am starting to get obsessed with her. What the fuck is wrong with me? I hate her! I HAVE to hate her!'_

Before long, Chloe realized she was walking for a good fifteen minutes, basically on auto-pilot. Taking in her surroundings, the Punk began to tremble when she realized where she was.

A jewelry store with large shopping windows to her left, next to it an old building not housing a parlor, but a small convenient store, its blue facade having received a fresh coat of paint some time ago. A (somewhat rusty and old looking) playground across the road.

The street itself was illuminated by the streetlights, projecting yellowish orbs of light on the gray concrete.

She could not see far down the road, almost as if she was in the dream again, as if a thick fog denied visibility. But Chloe knew she was awake and that this was not, in fact, a horrible nightmare.

A small sound managed to peak her interest. Looking down the road, the Punk realized someone sitting on a bench across the street, near the playground. Curious, Chloe moved closer to investigate.

The small sounds continued, slowly getting clearer, and before long the strawberry blonde managed to identify it as sniffing noises. She heard the exact same before, back in the bathroom during PE-Class. A brown mop of hair could be seen behind the back of the bench.

 _'She is here? What the hell?!'_

Before she could even think of any action, her darker thoughts started to appear again.

 _'This is great... The root of all your evil, sitting at the exact spot where she caused you such misery and pain. Crying her eyes out at how hard life is. What does she know about life? Her family seems fine!'_

Slowly, Chloe turned around the bench and got a better look at the _girl._

Her eyes were closed, tears streaming down her freckled face while her shoulders shook from the sobs. In her hands, she clutched something like a necklace, an interesting color made Chloe even more aware of it.

 _'So she is playing the victim now? After all she has done? That's life for ya...'_

Completing her turn around the bench, the Punks boots made a grinding noise on the rough concrete, betraying her presence. The brunette looked up and her blue eyes widened like saucers. A strangled " **Urgh"** came out of her throat, probably do to the surprise.

 _'Why not push her around a bit? Maybe throw her on the street, she does like to play around there, doesn't she?!'_

Without realizing it, Chloe's face hardened at these thoughts. She practically got lost in them, not knowing any other way to deal with this situation. She was good at getting angry, after all...

"What are you doing here?!" Came the first words out of the blondes mouth while she took a step closer.

The deaf girl, obviously not understanding what she meant, looked on in confusion.

With a raised voice, Chloe "I asked: What are YOU doing here?! Do you even know what this place is?!"

The brunette reached for her bag, probably for her notebook. But at that exact moment, the Punk saw red and stepped closer, grabbing her wrist to stop her.

"I know you CAN TALK! Tell me what your problem is!"

Even more angered, the taller girl pushed on with her rant.

"First you kill MY father! This tears MY family apart. Then you have the BALLS to visit the SAME SCHOOL as I do, making me RELIVE all of those memories. And now YOU pretend to be the victim! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Wincing in pain, the _girl_ looked up and into those azure eyes. Chloe returned the stare, so deep in fact, that she could see the terror and fear in the brunettes eyes. The smaller girl realized just who she was sitting next to these last few months, who she shared her notes with, who she helped not get caught sleeping.

A spark ran through the Punks body, making her release the wrist. The deaf girl scrambled away towards the other end of the bench, clutching her bag in front of her as if to shield her from the wrath of Chloe Price. Tears started to stream down the smaller girl face.

" _I never wanted all of this!"_

Those were the first words that Chloe would hear from the deaf girl. A shy voice, full with pain and hurt, wavering. Her pronunciation was off a bit, but the taller girl had no time to concentrate on this.

" _I didn't ask for this, didn't ask to become deaf. Never asked to survive and get someone killed!"_

After a few seconds, another sentence escaped the _girl._

" _Why... Why didn't you help me with the bullies?"_

This froze Chloe up. What was she to respond? _'I wanted you to feel bad for killing my father?'_ or _'I hate you, that's why!'_ The taller girl knew that non of this is true anymore... Not after learning to tolerate, maybe even like the girl in front of her. Still, no words formed in her mouth.

This made the deaf girl shake her head in defeat, tears still running down her face.

Immediately, the blonde felt an insane guilt in the pit of her stomach, even stronger then what she experienced before. Lowering her head, Chloe's eyes started to water. In her peripheral view, she noticed the brunette slowly rising from the bench, starting to walk away from the bench. The Punk rose her head again and looked at the brunette, trying to decide a course of action.

She slowly held her right arm in front of her, as if to grab for the smaller girl. But no words left her lips, almost as if all air was punched out of her lungs. Her legs felt bolted to the ground, so no running after her. The deaf girl was already too far away to notice her, walking down the street while her shoulder tremble from sobbing.

Chloe lowered her head, hiding it behind both hands, while she started to cry. Cry in a way she hasn't since her fathers accident.

"Please... I'm sorry... _Max!_ "

* * *

The next few days again went like a blur. But not in the nice, relaxed kind of blur like before. For Chloe, it was more of a 'everything got worse' blur. Maxine did not return to class the next day. At first, there was no news why this happened, and the class was all to happy for her to be gone. About a week later, Mrs. Enfield announced to the class that their classmate was switching school, scolding the entirety of the class for letting it 'escalate this far'. Still feeling shocked from her encounter, the Punk just kept her head down and carried on, pretending to not having noticed a thing. When Mrs. Enfield asked her to stay behind after class, Chloe just shrugged and told her she had no idea what went on. Although her teacher did not look convinced, she had no proof to suggest otherwise, so the Punk was let go.

At first, there were only rumors about the principal having some meetings with students and teachers. Apparently the PE-Teacher, Mr. Morsen, was severely reprimanded, but details remained unknown. He did appear more gloomy during the next few classes. Even Nathan and Victoria were called towards the office during classes, but no obvious punishment was handed out.

 _'Tsk... typical. Prescott's at it again.'_ was the only thing the strawberry blonde could be bothered to think about that particular event.

A few weeks later, even more rumors were exchanged in the school hall. Max' parents filed a lawsuit against the school. This was soon picked up by some news outlets, reporting the 'gross negligence' of teachers and 'severe bullying' by students, but no student names were giving out, probably again thanks to a certain rich father.

News reports went on, and after the court case was over, ending in a settlement over a undisclosed sum of money. The school managed to avoid closure only barely, making it even more dependent on the donations by Prescott Foundation. This in turn made the life of teachers and student even more miserable, since Nathan and his entourage became even more unbearable, openly admitting they "own this place and a lot more around town".

Chloe, still feeling insanely guilty, tried to get in contact with Max. However, none of the had any idea, which school she would visit now. After some time, she finally managed to convince Mrs. Enfield to give her the address of the Caulfield Residence, since looking her up in the phone book went without success. When she received the note, her teacher cautioned her, telling her they could get into a lot of trouble for this.

Arriving on foot at the address near the outskirts of Arcadia Bay, the Punk was shocked to find the house empty, a "Sold" sign on the outside.

 _'They moved away... Actually moved away... Holy shit, I am a fucking monster...'_

While the school year continued relatively uneventful, Chloe became more and more depressed about what happened between her and Max. She would leash out even more towards people close to her, especially her mother. To hide her pain, she became more and more vicious towards her. Each time she saw the hurt in her mothers eyes. And each time she felt regret, guilt, remembering the eyes of Max. And this made her angry again. Angry at herself, angry at the world. And so, the cycle continued. This was fueled even more by her mothers new boyfriend, who she met about a year later. An ex-soldier, David Madsen was not as enduring as Joyce, resulting in vocal fights between the two, hurting her mother even more.

At school, she shut down even more. Although Chloe would not skip any more classes without a good excuse, her participation in the daily regime would be kept at a minimum. The only teacher she even exchanged words on a regular basis was Mrs. Enfield, who seemed to have again picked up on her problems.

Even her friends, especially Steph, suffered by Chloe's behavior. Her pissed-off attitude would sometimes just explode, sending her into a fit of rage, lashing out at anyone nearby. Most of those she barely held as acquaintance through board games with Steph or hanging out at various parks would turn away. Steph herself would endure it, but not without the same look of hurt in her eyes.

And so, the years continue, no real change in sight. In High-School, Chloe realized that unless she would change something soon, her self-destructive behavior would be the end of her. But what could she do?


	7. Rinse and repeat

Chapter 7 – Rinse and repeat

 _'Another fucked up day in Arcadia Bay'_

With these words, Chloe Price rose out of her far too old bed, ready to tackle another day and year in the life of a newly minted High-School-Student. It has been exactly five years since her life took a short upheavel, followed by an uncontrollable downward spiral.

Not that she could care. It has been five years since she last mer the girl that changed her life. Twice over.

Both times, it was not the girl's active fault. But she was at the center of it, both times.

In the years after the fateful few months Chloe now treasured in her memories, she experienced even more pain. Not physical. But emotional.

The guilt of making the life of a 13-year old girl – indirectly hell on earth was nagging away at her. The realization that she had started to feel more for this girl hit her hard and fast back then. But the Punk hid those thoughts away. Back into the deepest corners of her mind. Otherwise she would probably go insane. Or suicidal.

Each and every morning, she took a few moments to contemplate this. Each and every morning she would think about a way to make the pain go away.

And she had tried it all. Booze, weed, boys...

Nothing could make it go away, it only delay the next wave. Which was good enough at those moments, countless hours spend with getting high, drunk... or both.

A few vicious knocks startled her.

" **Get your ass out of the bed, soldier! Breakfast is ready."**

 _'And there is another reason why my life is dipped in shit...'_

After a few seconds of trying to ignore the earlier call, another round of loud knocks shook on the door.

" **I said, get up Chloe!"**

Rolling her eyes, the Punk slowly rose up.

"Yeah yeah, keep your panties on..."

The disturber apparently satisfied, footsteps could be heard disappearing down the stairs.

Wiping a hand through her face, Chloe slowly picked her clothes to wear for the day: white shirt with a black skull on it, a pair of jeans with suspenders, her dark blue beanie, trusted black combat boots and, of course, her new leather jacket, purchased via five finger discount.

 _'Wonder how Step-Douche hasn't questioned me yet about the jacket... He would surely go ballistic if he found out how I got it.'_

Shaking her head, Chloe walked the short distance between her room and the bathroom. Closing the door behind her and locking it in case Sarge Dickhead got any ideas, she looked at herself in the mirror, feeling a slight déjà-vu. Her blonde hair, still only shoulder length, were practically screaming 'Dye me!'. Tracing fingers through them, her thoughts would wander again, as they did so often these past few years.

 _'It has been five years. I wonder what she is doing right now... How she looks...'_

The Punk _did_ try to search traces of Max on social media, but never managed to find anything.

 _Figures I'd fall for the only girl who avoids social media._

Daily routine over, Chloe made her way downstairs, only to be greated by her most not-so-favorite step-douche.

"About time, Chloe. What have you been doing up there? Toking again? I swear, if I find any grass up there..." He purposefully left the sentence hanging there.

The strawberry blonde girl only rolled her eyes again.

"Get off my back, will ya? And let me swear something, too: If you so much as _touch_ my door while I am not-"

"Not this early in the morning, you two. Just stop..."

The defeated sound of her mothers voice stopped Chloe. Looking over to the kitchen counter, Joyce looked like she hadn't been sleeping well lately, And lately means: Seven years. Her blonde hair was starting to show traces of gray. The bags under her eyes became something of a semi-permanent fixture. Only her clothing, the trusted waitress outfit, looked meticulously _well taken care of._

"Show some respect, Chloe. I'll see you later." With this, David turns around and retreats to the garage, with Chloe mockingly mouthing off behind his back.

"Chloe..."

 _'Great, there is that disappointed voice again...'_

Walking towards the door outside, the Punk just threw a "I'm not hungry, bye." over her shoulder and made a dash for her truck.

Her trusted, rusty, not really street-safe truck. She found it about two years ago, abandoned in a junkyard. After some hands-on experience with the family's car, it wasn't too hard to get it running again. The most difficult part to find was the new battery, but else nothing that could hold her up. And Chloe had to admit: It feels good to create something with your own hands and use it. Since then, her 'trusted wheels' would carry her away from the hell she called home every time the air between her and Joyce or Douche would got too sour.

Especially with the new addition to the 'Price Household'.

David Madsen, aka Sergeant Shithead, aka Step-Douce, aka... A lot more unflattering names.

A retired US Army Veteran. Joyce met him two years ago at the diner, of all places.

 _'And they hit off pretty quickly... Didn't take two weeks for her to invite him home. Replacing Dad like he was nothing...'_ the Punk thought bitterly.

While mulling over this, Chloe entered the beat-down truck, fastned in the seat belt, and started the truck before reversing out of the driveway, taking off towards her High-School.

Her thoughts remained towards the conversations from before. While she avoided David at first, it became much more difficult as he spent more time around house. He instantly took it as his personal goal to 'shape Chloe', as if she was some recruit in boot camp. This, of course, set him on a straight on collision course with the self declared rebel. Every opportunity he used to chastise Chloe for the slightest thing, the Punk would use this to return a full broadside of insults, going on a tangent to remind him that he could never replace her Dad or become something of a father-figure to her.

A year after meeting at the diner, and after many fruitless attempts to chase him away by Chloe, David proposed to Joyce, marrying a few months after.

This in turn resulted in a new ice-age in the relationship between mother and daughter. The biggest escalation, during her 18th birthday, ended with Chloe threatening David with a knife, cursing her mother for marrying so shortly after Williams death, and leaving for two days before she was picked up by a cop car near her hideout, thanks to David being friends with the APD.

Sooner then she wanted, Chloe arrived at her school, parking on the lot, careful to avoid any disabled parking space, which some of her co-students didn't care for. Somehow, this made her feel uncomfortable.

 _'I mean, who takes away from the disabled? How sick is that? Urgh...'_

Exiting the truck and walking towards the fountain in front of the main doors, Chloe's gaze wandered towards some of the other cars in the lot. Only one car stood out, a black Ford Defender. She never saw that vehicle there, and couldn't imagine any student driving such a vehicle.

Moving on, she came to a halt in front of the well.

 _'Blackwell Academy... Blackhell... Shitwell... Yep, I believe I don't like this place.'_

While most students are either standing in groups, talking to each other, or walking inside the main hall, Chloe took the opportunity to sneak towards the dorms, her favorite smoking spot being right next to it.

 _'Just one before this hell starts again... Let's see how much trouble I can get into during my first day.'_

On her way towards said place, a voice boomed out.

"Chloe! I hope you are not going where I think you are going!"

This immediately made the Punk screech to a halt, tensing her shoulder.

 _'Of fucking course...'_

Turning around slowly, Chloe spotted the man she learned to hate these past few years, wearing a Blackwell Security Guard Outfit. David...

 _'That what he meant with 'See you later?'. Fuck me...'_

David stepped closer, almost face to face with his step-daughter, hovering an accusatory finger in front of her.

"I know exactly what this is, missy. Trying to sneak a smoke? Well, too bad for you that I am now guarding this place. And if I catch you or anyone else over there, smoking or taking any of your drugs, I will personally make sure you regret it 'till hell-"

While the new security guard continued his rant, Chloe just rolled her eyes, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and looked as uninterested as possible.

"- freezes over... Hey! Listen to me when I talk to you."

Uncrossing her arms, Chloe again rolled her eyes and started to walk past David, towards the School's front door. His right hand shot up, gripping her arm, stopping her.

"What the hell, dude? Let go of me!" The strawberry blonde yelled, trying to wriggle herself out of the older man's grip.

"Not before you listen to me. Trust me, and tell your 'friends': A new wind is blowing here."

"Yeah? Why 'blow' here? Not getting enough action at home?" The instance those words left her mouth, Chloe regretted it insanely on account of her mother, but her short temper again got the better of her.

 _'Chloe Price's big mouth: Destroying relationships since 1994...'_

Shocked by this, David lost his concentration just for a second, enough time for the Punk to free herself and walk towards the school. Not turning around again, only an angry yell could be heard.

"You watch your mouth! This isn't over!"

 _'Fuck you too, jerk...'_

Wincing a bit from the throbbing arm, Chloe went through the large doorway, into the main hall of Blackwell. Thankfully, the halls were relatively full of students, so she managed to reach the girl's bathroom unseen. Stepping in, she made sure no one else was in the room before looking at herself in the mirror. Shrugging her leather jacket off, she inspected her arm, which has turned red already.

 _'Stop crying... Not the first time step-ass went a bit too physical...'_

Against her will, her eyes started to moisture. David, although not beating her on a daily basis, had slapped her a few times already. None of these were witnessed by Joyce, of course. And Chloe only told her once, the first time it happened, when she was 17 and David cornered her, returning late from a concert at the old mill. For Chloe, it all went so fast. He stood at the foot of the stairs, blocking her way up, jabbing a finger in her chest and using words like 'delinquent', 'illegal drugs' and 'failure'. Before long, the Punk exploded too, accusing him of being a failure himself, not having a job and being paranoid all the time. Halfway into the second sentence of, a sharp sting on her left cheek stopped her dead in her tracks. Not waiting for any more words, Chloe just pushed past him and flew up the stairs. The next morning, at the breakfast table, Chloe emerged with her blue and purple cheek.

Joyce accused her of provoking her husband, which in of itself wasn't too much of a lie, either. Although Joyce would give David a 'firm talking too', Chloe knew that the self proclaimed 'Price Drill Instructor' would not be impressed by this.

Gripping the edge of the sink, the strawberry blonde tried to calm down, oddly remembering the last time she had a breakdown in a bathroom, five years ago.

When she heard the door open, her voice acted on her own.

"Hey, fuck off... I need a few seconds alo-..."

In the mirror, in her peripheral view, Chloe recognized the intruder. Brown, shoulder length hair, blue eyes...

 _'What the...?!'_


	8. To meet again

**A/N Terribly sorry for being late. Staying at a hospital at thursday and insane work on friday did take a lot out of me. Furthermore, a surgery of a close family member next week will derail my plans on updates. I hope I can work it up quickly, but with the surgery and my work, I might not make it as quick as I had hoped. Sorry for that.**

Chapter 8 – To meet again

A public bathroom. Two girls, both looking at each other in shock.

The taller, strawberry blonde haired girl, who just turned around after checking herself in the mirror, caught herself first, managing to get a closer look of the smaller, brunette girl. She wore a white t-shirt underneath a red hoodie, both plain. A pair of blue jeans, some generic sneakers. Around her shoulder, she wore a brown messenger bag, which she was clutching with both her hands.

 _'It's her... Oh my god, it **is** her!'_

Slowly, Chloe managed to regain her voice just enough to actually speak one word, almost whispering it.

"... Max?"

This broke the brunette out of her shocked stasis. Eyes wide, she let out a gasping sound. After a few seconds, she turned around, exiting the bathroom.

"Wait!" The Punk reached out behind her, stumbling towards the closing door. But when she finally reached and opened it, there was no sight of Max anywhere. She had disappeared into the masses of students on their way towards classes. Chloe leaned against the door frame, trying to calm down.

 _'Holy fuck... She is here?! How is that possible?'_

Scratching her scalp with one hand, her mind rattled on.

 _'Wow... She looks almost the same as back then... A bit more grown up, maybe, but almost the same... I have to find out what she is doing here. If there is any chance I can redeem my fuck up...'_

"Ms. Price, I think it is time for classes, isn't it?"

A deep voice stopped her train of thoughts. Turning her head towards its source, she spotted the Principal, Raymond Wells.

Normally, Chloe would return some witty or snide remark for such a reminder, but right now, the effects of the recent events cooled her heels.

"Yes... yes of course. Excuse me." Pushing past the Principal, who himself looked rather surprised at the courteous answer by one of his more troublesome students, the strawberry blonde walked down the corridor, through the double door at the end of the hallway towards her first hour of English Literature.

* * *

During lunch-break, after a rather boring set of classes full of introductions by teachers she already knew, Chloe decided to forgo the cafeteria's food and choose the fountain as her destination.

 _'Fuck this place. Cafeteria's worse then during Junior High School. How is that even possible?'_

With a scowl, the tall girl stepped down the entrance stairs while looking around the square for a place to chill. Turning towards her right, she suddenly heard the deep voice of the Principal again.

"Thank you for visiting, Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield. Let me assure you that your daughter is in the best of hands here, at Blackwell."

Immediately, the Punk recognized the name and came to an halt. When she turned around, she spotted two persons, a man and a woman in thier late thirties, recognizing them as the same persons who once picked up Max five years ago. Both were business style clothes, the male wearing a black suit with white shirt and a black tie, while the female wore a gray business dress with matching knee length skirt.

Following them was the Principal, while no sign of Max could be seen.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Wells. We appreciate you allowing Max to live in the dorms. My wife and I are not a fan of this, but Max was very insisted on that... and we hope Max will be able to socialize a bit more this way. With us being insanely busy with work, this does help us a bit."

 _'No way... She lives here in the dorms now?'_

"Of course. I am glad to count her as one of my students. And let me assure you again, she will be in the best of hands here."

 _'Yeah yeah, baldy. How full of himself...'_

The parents shook hands with Wells before departing towards the parking lot, boarding the Ford Defender.

 _'That explains the new car...'_

Slowly, Chloe made her way towards the tables at the end of the fountain square, spotting Steph and some others playing DnD games. Her arrival was not unnoticed by the players. There were Drew, a boy and a girl Chloe didn't meet before.

"Hey Chloe, nice to see you. Wanna join?" The auburn haired girl inquired. She was wearing her typical white beanie, a long sleeved black shirts, a pair of blue jeans. Her usual look.

Chloe just shook her head before answering. "Nah, not right now... But can I talk to you for a second?"

Steph, not used to being asked this by her friend, gazed towards the other players, before announcing a short break. She stood up and motioned for Chloe to follow her a few feet away from the table.

"Been a while since you actually asked me that... Or anything, for that matter..." Her disappointment in the strawberry blonde's lack of communication, aside from the basics and the few parties they met at, clearly showing.

The Punk averted her eyes, looking down towards the ground and scratching the back of her neck.

"Yes... I'm sorry Steph... I know I wasn't easy these past couple of years..."

"No kidding. Chloe, I don't even know if we can call each other friends anymore, especially after what you pulled two weeks ago?"

This made the taller girl feel even more uncomfortable. She knew what Steph was implying.

When she arrived at the 'housewarming party' of Steph's new apartment, Chloe had already been in a spectacularly bad mood after another run-in with David, combined with feeling particularly bad for her role with Max's disappearance from Junior High, triggered by observing a younger girl using a hearing device in the diner earlier that evening.

Later during the party, Chloe had been tanking on the punch laced with alcohol when she heard some guy from her old class recounting the events leading to Max leaving her class, making fun of her disability. She saw red and punched the guy in the face, effectively ending the party. Steph asked the guy to leave, but the Punk was already gone.

 _'Not my greatest moment... But he deserved it.'_

"Yes, I know... I am sorry for that, I just saw red."

"I know Chloe, and I can see why this made you angry. You are lucky he was wasted and didn't go to the police. Whatever, lets not talk about this again. What was it you wanted to ask me?"

Chloe fidgeted a bit with the hem of her shirt, a move which made Steph raise an eyebrow, not accustomed to her friend being so nervous.

"Steph, y-you wont believe who I just met..."

A shudder made Chloe stop for a second, before breathing in again to continue.

" _Her_. I saw _her_ again!"

This made the shorter girl speechless. She knew about the history between Chloe and Max, the Punk telling her a few months ago after a party, Chloe being wasted and melancholic.

After a few seconds of letting those words sink in, Chloe went on.

"She was here, Steph. Max was at the bathroom! I saw her parents talking to Wells. She lives at the dorms now. Visiting Blackwell!"

"Hold on, hold on. You are saying the girl you met five years ago, and who left Junior High because..." Steph skipped that part after seeing Chloe's gaze turning downward. "... She is here? Did she recognized you?"

The Punk again plucked on the hem of her shirt, not answering. The made the auburn haired girl facepalm.

"Chloe... Don't tell me you yelled at her again?"

This made the strawberry blonde look up with wide eyes.

"I didn't! Yo, what the fuck, Steph? You think I didn't learn from before?!"

"I hope so, you can't deny your... 'temperament' gets the better of you sometimes! Refer to previous topic."

This made Chloe's shoulder sack down, admitting defeat was something she hated, by her friend had a point.

Steph continued. "So, what happened next? Did you talk?"

"I tried to, but as soon as I said her name, she just turned around and beat it down the corridor. I tried to run after her, but with all the students... Fucking hell..." Chloe cursed.

 _'If only I could have stopped her somehow. But what if she thought I was out to hurt her again? I have to find a way to talk to her... Wait, maybe...'_

"I need to find out her room number."

This made Steph widen her eyes, flailing her arms in front of her as if to signal her friend to stop.

"No Chloe! Bad idea! If you just stand in front of her door, how do you think she will react? I mean, she would probably flee like a scared doe."

 _'Fuck... She is right. But still, there has to be some way?'_

"Tell you what, Chloe, I'll think of something. Lets just take a breath. Maybe you have classes with her again?"

 _'I haven't even thought about that...'_

"But be careful, Chloe. Victoria and Nathan were in my classes this morning. They're here, too! If they see Max again, who knows how much they'll do to turn her life into hell again. I heard both are thinking of taking over the Vortex Club. This will make them even more insufferable than before."

This made the Punk's gaze harden. "I won't let that happen, Steph."

The sincerity in her statement made the auburn haired girl smile a bit. "Even if this means trouble for you?"

"Even if it means me getting expelled. I wont let her get hurt again. By me, or by anyone else."

The bell rung, marking the end of their break. After saying goodbyes - and a promise to meet up tomorrow afternoon - Chloe made her way back to the main hall, towards chemistry as her next block of classes.

* * *

The chemistry classroom was a spacious laboratory with twelve work tables, for two each, as well as the teachers table with a large board behind it.

Chloe, being rather good at chemistry, still preferred a seat at the back of the room, using her punk attitude to scare away any potential partner whenever possible.

Choosing a place at the rear wall, she sat down with a huff, dropping her bag next to the chair. Taking out her mobile phone, a battered S2 bought at another yard sale by her mother, she checked some social media to kill the boredom. That was, until two persons walked in, Nathan and Victoria.

Both had the same aura of 'Royalty' around them as before, only this time they were even nastier thanks to power and influence they could buy, using parties and 'favors' to coax anyone to their side. While Nathan wore his standard red jacket with white shirt and black trousers, Victoria wore a black silk dress, probably as expensive as a used car.

"Look at that, nice dinosaur you got there. You found it in a junkyard?" The arrogant voice of 'Queen' Victoria disrupted Chloe in checking her phone.

Used to these kinds of remarks, the Punk just shrugged. "Yeah, I found it right next to that car wreck they call your personality."

This produced a smirk on the pixy blondes face, who turned towards Nathan. He just scowled. "Come on Vic, why bother with such low lifes? Who knows, maybe the Diner her mom loves so much will be the next target of my dad's?"

He was referring to the new real estate project of his dad, purchasing a big area of the Bay Harbor. Some of them by rather questionable means. Of course, no one would dare to come forward and accuse Sean Prescott of any wrong doing.

"Sure, dude. Can't fight your own battles? Need Daddy Warbucks to help you out?"

"You better watch your mouth, Price. You have no idea who you are messing with."

"Yeah, yeah. Sit down and fuck off."

Before Nathan or Victoria could retort, the teacher, Mrs. Grant, walked in. An older women in her late forties, her curled black hair about a few centimeters short of her shoulders. She wore a black open vest above her purple shirt, sporting her usual peace sign. Black trousers and a pair of black completed the picture.

"Okay, okay. Settle down everyone. I am sure you already had enough excitement today."

While the class settled down and the last students choose their seats, Chloe being left alone, the teacher continued.

"Most of you know me already, but for the rest: My name is Mrs. Grant, I am your teacher for chemistry and physics here at Blackwell. Welcome. Before we start with the class roll and further introductions, I have an announcement to make regarding a student who will join us, starting tomorrow."

The strawberry blonde girl, who was slumped down in her corner of the room, suddenly tensed up.

 _'Does that mean...?'_


	9. A new job

Chapter 9 – A new job

"She will introduce herself, obviously, but I want to point a few things out beforehand." Mrs. Grant continued.

Chloe, now fully awake and listening, began to shiver a bit. Two seats in front of her, Nathan and Victoria both tried to look as bored as possible, with Victoria playing on her mobile phone, only doing a half-assed job at hiding it, while Nathan has his head propped up on his hand, watching Victoria.

"First, because of a disability, her hearing is limited. This requires her to wear a hearing-aid."

 _'Yes, it does mean she will join at least this class!'_ Starting to smile somewhat unintentionally, the Punk noticed Victoria and Nathan looking up, their interest also picked.

 _'That can't be good...'_

"Second, because of this, I intend on writing a lot more on the board, to make it easier for her. Since a lot of you..:" her gaze wandered toward Dana, who fumbled to get her mobile phone back in her pocket. "... also seem to have problems listening, I think it should help you, too."

Nathan, who had turned his head toward Victoria, sported a predatory smile as whispered something into his neighbor's ear.

 _'Yep, definitely **not** good...'_

Mrs. Grant continued, raising her index finger, as if to warn them. "I expect you all to behave like the adults you are. The administration will not tolerate any kind of harassment or bullying at this school."

 _'Sure, as long as it isn't the Prescott Clan or their acquaintances doing the bullying...'_ Chloe thought bitterly. Even at Blackwell, no one is safe from Nathan and his cronies, not even the teachers or the Principal.

"Right, now that this is out of the way, let's start with your introductions. Why don't we go from front to back?"

Chloe relaxed back into her seat, zoning out her teacher – a technique mastered after years of practice – and pondering over the announcement.

 _'I wonder how she will react when she sees me again? Storm out, like in the bathroom? I wish I could talk to her before that... The question is, how many classes do we share? Or better yet, how many does she share with Presscock or Dicktoria?'_

Grunting at that, then catching herself, she looked around to see if someone caught her spacing out. _'No one, good... I have enough troubles, anyway.'_

 _'I wonder if there is a way to find out her schedule? … Wow, hold on. I sound like a stalker again...'_

Cringing at herself and not really in the mood to think more about recent events, the Punk decided to participate in the class, at least to show she is still there, and raised her hand. Not that she heard half of what the teacher said, but it's physics, so how hard could it be?

* * *

Finishing her school day, Chloe made her way toward the parking lot, her mind still occupied, thinking about what they heard in chemistry.

 _'I hope she wont bolt out of class as soon as she sees me. I wonder why she returned here? Not that I am complaining, but why return to this shit-hole?'_

"Miss Price, do you have a second?"

Chloe didn't even need to turn around to know who just called her. Rolling her eyes, she slowly turned around to face Principal Wells. Clad in a rather cheap looking beige suit and pants, a plain white shirt with black tie, and some brown shoes. The typical bureaucrat look.

"Second is up, so I hope it's important?" Sarcasm, weaponized by the strawberry blonde girl, would always help to piss others of.

"Your sarcasm does not impress me, Miss Price... I was hoping you would assist me in helping a new student. But, well, I think I should ask someone else..." Turning around, the Principal started to walk towards the Main Hall again.

 _'Oh shit, that was your chance, Price. And you blew it again...'_

"Mr. Wells?" This made the taller man stop and turn his head towards his student.

"Yes?" He raised an eyebrow, probably not really expecting what came next.

"I would... like to help. If you don't mind... Sorry for the sarcasm..."

 _'Way to go, Price... If you could just shut up next time, you wouldn't need to embarrass yourself like that.'_

Now turning around completely, Wells crossed his arms and mustered her. Chloe bit her tongue, almost loosing another few chosen words about the way he looked at her.

"Well, you surprise me again, Miss Price. The student in question will need a lot of help, considering she has a hearing disability. This might mean we need to change some of your schedule to help her out in the first few days. This will be quite work intensify. Do you still think, you are up to the job?"

 _'Jackpot!'_

Smiling a bit, an action she didn't perform much these past few years, the tall girl nodded.

"Yes, I think I am up to it, I would be glad to help."

 _'Keep that smile up, Price. Not like you have to like the man...'_

"Good, well... We'll meet tomorrow morning, then. Be there half an hour early, please. I will make the necessary arrangements to have you excused for the first few classes."

 _'Great... Getting up even earlier then usual. But this might be my chance!'_

Just nodding again, Chloe turned around and walked towards her car, again thinking about what just transpired.

* * *

Arriving home and parking her car in front of the garage, Chloe was pleased to notice Davids car was not here.

 _'Good. Step-Fuck probably still snooping around at Blackhell.'_

Leaving the car and entering the house, she immediately made her way towards the upper floor when a voice called out.

"Chloe? Is that you? Come over here for a second, will yah?"

Sighing, the Punk turned around and stepped down the stairs, before turning the corner towards the kitchen. Joyce was cleaning the kitchen, currently busy with washing the dishes.

Chloe just leaned at the open door frame, eyeing her mother in a 'What do you want?' way, while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Joyce stopped rinsing the plate she was holding and turned fully towards Chloe. "Don't give me that look. I wanted to talk to you about something."

The younger strawberry blonde pushed herself off the frame, shoving both her hands in her jeans pockets, shrugging her shoulder.

"Whats up, Mom?" She made sure to sound as bored as possible.

"Don't you 'Whats up?' me! I heard from David. Were you in trouble this morning?"

 _'I cant believe this...'_ Chloe just shook her head, actually smirking from the craziness of it all.

"Sure, and since you already know all the facts from Sergeant Dicky, why not impose the death penalty right now?" Sarcasm was dripping from her voice.

"Chloe, don't talk to me like that! Why do you constantly have to get into trouble? And why do you constantly have to lock horns with David?"

"What do you care? I told you, he is fucking crazy! He gripped me so hard today, my fucking arm was swelling red. Look!" She pointed at her blue and purple arm, not completely visible under her Shirt's sleeve, so she pushed it back. Joyce looked with wide eyes. "Not that you care! You didn't care the last time he slapped me. Or that one before. So don't even try to pretend you do now! Maybe you are lucky, and I will disappear soon, since I am such a fuck up for both of you."

With this, the Punk turned around and storm down the corridor.

"Chloe, you have to give him another try! He is usually not like this!" Her mothers voice, laced with sorrow, almost made her stop. _Almost._

"Don't bother..." She just shot back while climbing up the stairs. Quickly entering her room, she closed her door with force, the sound reverberating around the house.

Pushing her back against the now closed door, Chloe slowly slid down before crossing her arms on her knees, burying her face in those arms. Tears slid down her face.

 _'Fucking hell...'_

* * *

Smoke, originating from a lit joint, slowly escaped through the open window of Chloe's room.

 _'Yep, that's the stuff... Thank god Step-Fuck wasn't able to find my weed stash yet... At least something to calm down and chill...'_

After her fight with Joyce, she stayed in her room for the rest of the afternoon before deciding to start on the bit of homework they actually got today.

 _'Homework on the first day. Fuck you, too.'_

Hating it, but finishing it nontheless, she now had some time to think about tomorrow.

 _'She lives in the dorm. I got the job of showing her around. Even hanging out with her. All responsible and shit... That maybe your only chance of redeeming yourself. Don't fuck this up, Price.'_

Straddling the windowsill, one leg dangling out, she took another drag of her joint, inhaling it slowly before blowing it outward, into the night.

 _'But how do I pull this off? I hope she won't book it after seeing me tomorrow, like she did today. Goddamnit, that would be embarrassing to explain. I hope she will give me another chance.'_

After another drag, she noticed that her joint was almost finished, maybe one or two more drags.

 _'Damn, I need to procure more weed. Especially if this craziness won't stop soon. My stash is running out...'_

Deciding to act on that impulse now, the Punk picked up her phone, opened her contacts and started to write a short message.

 **Chloe:** yo F. any chance on getting some stuff in the near future?

Placing her phone next to her on the windowsill, she took the last drag of her joint, stumping it out in the ash tray. Her phone vibrated.

 _'I hope he wont mention the money I owe him...'_

 **F.:** when you pay up, sure. remember: 500 bucks on ur tab, i want my money yesterday!

 _'Of course! Fuck... Now that's a problem I would love to forget about.'_

Loaning money from a dealer may have not been that smart of a move, after all. But she needed it. Some of it for weed, other for repairs on her truck. Money was still tight at the Price Household.

 _'And with David interrogating me over every cent spent...'_

 **Chloe:** hey, iI told you i would pay up soon. cant you throw me a bone here?

 **F.:** u think i am stupid? money, by sunday 12 am. otherwise we have a big problem

 _'Great, even more problems. And how do I get $500 now?'_

Deciding to not answer, Chloe rose up from the windowsill and closed her window. Setting up her phone clock to ring early enough tomorrow, she took off her clothes and slid under the blankets, turning off the bedside lamp.

 _'Time for my beauty sleep. I will probably need it tomorrow.'_


	10. Preperations to be made

A/N Okay, before you ask: Yes, I was a bit busy this first half of a year. Between having three big exams infront of the Industrial and Commercial Chambers (All work related, not school.) and starting a new job... Let's just say I dont have as much space in my head for writing right now. This does not mean this story was abandoned. Far from it. I do plan on writing more. Just don't expect regular, weekly updates.

And I am in two awesome discord groups.

One with my friend Hoshitsuki (spebonne), the writer of "Life Has No Meaning Without You":

discord .gg /8SztgV

and one with Blackadder, LazyLazers and co. I dont have an invite link for that, so just check their stories out to see it. :P

Chapter 10 – Preparations

06:30 am. A beeping phone. A tired Punk. What a great combination to start the day. Usually, Chloe would only get up at the last possible second, with just enough time to grab a shower and some quick food before making her way toward hell/school.

Not this time, though. Since she would not leave anything to chance, she decided to rise on the mark. Picking out some of her more neutral clothing, or as neutral as a Punk style could get, Chloe decided on a white t-shirt with a black raven on it. Since the weather was reportedly pretty warm today, this and a pair of blue jeans, without holes, would suffice. Only her boots would be the same as every day, of course.

Quickly showering and brushing her teeth, she could already hear the loud steps of David leaving his and Joyce's bedroom. When she exited the bathroom, he was crossing the corner towards the stairs. Spotting her, David was stunned for a few short seconds.

 _'Fuck you too. You are not the only one who can rise early.'_

Deciding to just walk past him, the blonde haired girl stepped down the stairs. David composed himself pretty quickly.

"What are _you_ up to so early? Why in such a rush, missy?"

 _'Oh my god. Is he really that paranoid? Wait... If he doesn't know... Hehe...'_

Without even turning around, she continued down the stairs.

"That's strange, Sarge. Didn't they tell you, over at Blackwell? I thought you are always so well informed?"

Without even looking at him, she could feel his anger rising up. If there was one thing David hated, it was not being informed.

 _'Probably the side effects of being a paranoid fucker...'_

"Trust me, I will find out what this is all about. And when you inevitably screw up again, I will make sure you..."

Interrupting his rant with a quick "Yeah yeah, later, dick." over her shoulder, Chloe left the house and closed the door, effectively cutting him off. Walking towards her truck, she stopped for a second.

 _'Fuck! Forgot to get some food. And I have no interest in walking into Captain America again... So Two Whales it is. Let's see how much we can add to my tab today.'_

Parking next to the Diner, Chloe exited her truck and entered through the front door. She immediately spotted her mother, talking to a trucker at the counter. Joyce finished serving a plate of food before turning around towards her daughter.

"Good morning, Chloe. You're up early? Anything planned before school?"

 _'Yeah, keep the accusatory tone down at least a bit, mom...'_

"Yes, if you must know. I was asked to help a new student. Showing her around and stuff..." Chloe explained while approaching the counter.

"And now you want to get another 'free meal' before you get on over there?" Joyce quirked an eyebrow. "Why didn't you tell me about helping the new student?"

 _'Wait, I can use this... Mastermind Price is here.'_

The younger Price scratched the back of her neck. "Well... I kinda wanted it to be a surprise? It is actually why I am here. I wanted to get some take-out breakfast to make her morning as comfortable as possible, ya know?"

"Well, I can say I am surprised. It's very sweet of you. What's the new student name?"

This alerted Chloe. Her mother was bound to remember the name of the girl involved in her husband's... passing.

Composing herself, she quickly turned away from Joyce, resting one arm on the counter while looking through the door outside.

"I don't really recall her name. Lucky I have a talk with the Principal before I see her."

Chloe couldn't tell if her mother bought her quick explanation, especially since she didn't trust herself to turn around.

"Okay... So what do you want to take with you?"

 _'Phew... Dodged a bullet... Okay, but the new problem: What do I take for Max?'_

"Ehh... Let's do something simple? Belgian Waffles... I think everyone likes them. And I take my usual."

Sighing, Joyce made her way towards the kitchen. "B&E and Belgian Waffles coming right up..."

 _'Score again.'_ The punk smirked to herself.

Takeout-bag resting on the passenger seat beside her, Chloe turned into the parking lot of Blackwell. She was still a bit early, so she decided to take a second to sneak a quick smoke in her truck, since almost no one else was there yet.

Exhaling the smoke, resting one arm on the open window, she began to ponder over her next move.

 _'Okay Chloe, you have one chance to unfuck this situation. A situation which wouldn't be necessary if you hadn't blown up in her face all those years ago. I just hope she won_ _'_ _t run away, like she did yesterday...'_

Pulling on the cigarette one last time, exhaling through her nose, she threw the butt out of the window and checked herself over one last time in the mirror.

After being satisfied with her look, she grabbed the takeout-bag and stepped off the truck before making her way towards the school entrance, already spotting the large figure of Principal Wells.

"Good morning Ms. Price. I am glad to see you arriving on schedule."

His voice boomed when Chloe arrived at the large doors.

 _'In other words: I am surprised you made it on time. Screw you, too.'_

"Yeah yeah... Can we get to the point of this... thing?" She replied, already a bit jittery.

Mr. Wells raised an eyebrow-

 _'Whats with all the raised eyebrows lately?'_ _-_

and motioned for her to get inside.

"After you, Ms. Price. Let's go to my office and take care of everything there."

Stepping through the entrance and taking the door to her right, she waited for the Principal to unlock his office's door before entering it.

"I see you took some food with you. No time for breakfast?" He asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

 _'Yep, definitely go screw yourself.'_

"Well, I thought it would be a bit less stressful for the new student to start the day with a nice breakfast before I show her around. Can use it to explain some things to her." The Punk answered, clearly taking him off guard with her explanation.

After a few seconds, he recovered. "That is some good thinking. I appreciate you taking this seriously. Let me explain some things about the new student to you." He walked around his large, overcompensating table, to sit down behind it.

"Now, before we start. There are a few things I want to make you aware of. The student I would like you to take care of is called..." He shuffled a bit with the papers in front of him and put on his reading glasses. "Maxine Caulfield. She is Arcadia born, but moved to Seattle a couple of years ago because of... unfortunate circumstances." This made Chloe shrink into herself a bit. The principal didn't seem to notice, busy with reading something in front of him.

"Hmm, yes. Now..." He took his reading glasses off and looked at the younger girl. "Here is the complicated part. Ms. Caulfield is reliant on a hearing-aid. Obviously, this poses some difficulties. But nothing we can't deal with. That is where you come into play."

He pulled out what looked like a schedule for Chloe. "I took the liberty of comparing both of your schedules. It seems you have a few lessons together. Math, English Literature, PE and Science. That should be useful, considering you need to show her the ropes a bit. Here is the schedule, you can hand it to her." He held the piece of paper out, Chloe hesitantly taking it.

"That should be about it. I would like you to accompany her as much as possible today. It should be good since you both have the first few lessons together. After lunch, you do need to part ways, she has..." He thought for a second, before looking at his copy of today's schedule. "... Ahh, yes. Photography. You have... History?" A nod from Chloe confirmed this. "Well, if possible, I would like you to accompany her to her class. This will probably make you late, but I already gave Mrs. Henrikson the heads up. Don't think of this as a free pass, obviously." He raised his voice just a bit. Chloe had to give it all to not roll her eyes.

 _'And that had to_ _be said_ _, didn't it?'_

"Now, shall we go see your new fellow student?" He stood up, gesturing towards the door. The Punk followed him out of the office, out of the building towards the dorms.

Arriving at the door of the girls dorm, Principal Well already stepped inside and held the door open for Chloe. The dorm was unusually quiet this morning, maybe because it was so early.

"Okay, her room is..." He stopped, putting on his reading glasses again and taking out a small note from his suit pocket. "... two-nineteen. Over there, to the right."

He approached the door with the number 219 on it. As he cleared his throat and raised his hand to knock, Chloe took a deep breath.

 _'Ok... Here goes nothing...'_


End file.
